Teeter, Cardinals Excited to Open Season on Saturday
February 09, 2021 | Women's Lacrosse
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Just days ahead of his team's long-awaited season opener against Florida, University of Louisville women's lacrosse head coach Scott Teeter addressed the media to talk about the Cardinals' goals and hopes for the upcoming season.
The news conference came one year to the day of Louisville's last taste of competition (a 17-7 victory against Niagara) before the season was cancelled. As such, Teeter said he and his team were excited to test their metal against new competition.
"We obviously can't wait until Saturday," Teeter said. "It's honestly been a long, drawn-out fall and preseason with COVID and that stuff. We just need to play some outside competition. With us not being able to play outside competition in the fall, we've just been playing against ourselves."
Much like every sport on campus (and beyond), this offseason has been far from typical. Teeter said the Cardinals have had to think outside the box on how to get prepared for the season, using zoom calls for individual practices and scrimmaging against each other with the thankfully large size of this year's roster.
As such, the Cardinals will rely on the leadership that eight seniors will bring to this year's team.
Six of those seniors were responsible for 47 of Louisville's 112 (42 percent) goals last season and more than half of their assists (22 of 42), and the other two serve as the Cardinal's first and second-string goalkeepers (Rachel Florek and Jen Schaaf).
"It's great to have a roster and have depth at pretty much every position," Teeter said. "Our seniors are a special class. They were freshmen when the coaching change happened, so they've been here since my day one being here. They know my expectations and what we're trying to do within our program."
While all eyes are on preseason All-American Caroline Blalock, Teeter said he's also looking forward to seeing what Florek will accomplish in her final season.
Florek showed significant improvement over the course of last season, earning a .503 save percentage while allowing only 11.36 goals against her.
"She was definitely coming into her own," Teeter said of Florek. "With her season being cut short a little bit, she was just hitting her stride. She's been developing and really showing that she's one of the elite goalies in the ACC.
"She's really the backbone of our defense, and she's really expanded her role in leadership with us having some younger defenders. She's gotten to know the ins and outs of our defensive system. She's really developing into a great leader."
On the other side of the spectrum, Teeter said he's looking forward to fans seeing the play of freshman attacker and international recruit from Japan, Kokoro Nakazawa.
Nakazawa is Teeter's first player to speak a primary language other than English, but he's confident that she will contribute to the team in a major – and exciting – way this season.
"She got a little bit of a late start – we had some visa issues right at the beginning due to COVID with the embassies being closed," Teeter said. "But she got here and has really progressed.
"You're going to see her contributing right away. She brings an element to our program that we haven't seen since I've been here. She has a creative stick, you're going to see some flair, some highlight-reel stuff with her skillset."
The Cardinals will have an opportunity to put all that experience and youthful exuberance to the test on Saturday when they host Florida, who finished last season as a unanimous Top 10 team in the nation.
Teeter says he's confident in what the Cardinals will be able to accomplish against the Gators as long as they remain focused on the task at hand and forget about any potential intruding outside factors.
"We just have to be adaptable and ready," he said. "We can't use (things like the weather) as an excuse, especially when you have No. 7 or No. 8 in the country coming in. This is an opportunity for us to make a statement."
For the latest information on Louisville lacrosse, visit GoCards.com, or follow the team's twitter account at @LouisvilleLax or on Facebook at facebook.com/UofLLacrosse.
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The news conference came one year to the day of Louisville's last taste of competition (a 17-7 victory against Niagara) before the season was cancelled. As such, Teeter said he and his team were excited to test their metal against new competition.
"We obviously can't wait until Saturday," Teeter said. "It's honestly been a long, drawn-out fall and preseason with COVID and that stuff. We just need to play some outside competition. With us not being able to play outside competition in the fall, we've just been playing against ourselves."
Much like every sport on campus (and beyond), this offseason has been far from typical. Teeter said the Cardinals have had to think outside the box on how to get prepared for the season, using zoom calls for individual practices and scrimmaging against each other with the thankfully large size of this year's roster.
As such, the Cardinals will rely on the leadership that eight seniors will bring to this year's team.
Six of those seniors were responsible for 47 of Louisville's 112 (42 percent) goals last season and more than half of their assists (22 of 42), and the other two serve as the Cardinal's first and second-string goalkeepers (Rachel Florek and Jen Schaaf).
"It's great to have a roster and have depth at pretty much every position," Teeter said. "Our seniors are a special class. They were freshmen when the coaching change happened, so they've been here since my day one being here. They know my expectations and what we're trying to do within our program."
While all eyes are on preseason All-American Caroline Blalock, Teeter said he's also looking forward to seeing what Florek will accomplish in her final season.
Florek showed significant improvement over the course of last season, earning a .503 save percentage while allowing only 11.36 goals against her.
"She was definitely coming into her own," Teeter said of Florek. "With her season being cut short a little bit, she was just hitting her stride. She's been developing and really showing that she's one of the elite goalies in the ACC.
"She's really the backbone of our defense, and she's really expanded her role in leadership with us having some younger defenders. She's gotten to know the ins and outs of our defensive system. She's really developing into a great leader."
On the other side of the spectrum, Teeter said he's looking forward to fans seeing the play of freshman attacker and international recruit from Japan, Kokoro Nakazawa.
Nakazawa is Teeter's first player to speak a primary language other than English, but he's confident that she will contribute to the team in a major – and exciting – way this season.
"She got a little bit of a late start – we had some visa issues right at the beginning due to COVID with the embassies being closed," Teeter said. "But she got here and has really progressed.
"You're going to see her contributing right away. She brings an element to our program that we haven't seen since I've been here. She has a creative stick, you're going to see some flair, some highlight-reel stuff with her skillset."
The Cardinals will have an opportunity to put all that experience and youthful exuberance to the test on Saturday when they host Florida, who finished last season as a unanimous Top 10 team in the nation.
Teeter says he's confident in what the Cardinals will be able to accomplish against the Gators as long as they remain focused on the task at hand and forget about any potential intruding outside factors.
"We just have to be adaptable and ready," he said. "We can't use (things like the weather) as an excuse, especially when you have No. 7 or No. 8 in the country coming in. This is an opportunity for us to make a statement."
For the latest information on Louisville lacrosse, visit GoCards.com, or follow the team's twitter account at @LouisvilleLax or on Facebook at facebook.com/UofLLacrosse.
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Players Mentioned
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