Louisville Loses 12-11 Heartbreaker against No. 16 Virginia

Saturday, March 26

LOUISVILLE, KY

12 pm E.T.

University of Louisville

5-6, 1-4ACC

Virginia

6-6, 2-3ACC

Virginia

Louisville

Allegra Catalano charges in on a free-position shot vs. UVA

Louisville Loses 12-11 Heartbreaker against No. 16 Virginia

March 26, 2022 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Scott Teeter and Allegra Catalano Postgame Box Score

Allegra Catalano led the Cardinals offense with a career-high five goals.

By: Conor Mullaney

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville women's lacrosse battled to the end but fell just short in a 12-11 loss to No. 16 Virginia at UofL Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, the Cardinals move to 5-6 on the season, 1-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while the Cavaliers improve to 6-6 on the year, 2-3 in league action.

"Our work ethic was there and I thought we battled for sixty minutes," said head coach Scott Teeter. "We had some unforced errors and they made us pay the price. They just made one extra play, one extra shot."

Virginia got on the board first, scoring three goals in the first ten minutes as the Cards found themselves down 3-0 early.

Back-to-back goals from Nicole Perroni and Paige Richbourg cut the defecit to just one with 3:29 remaining in the first quarter before UVA notched one more before the end of the period.

Louisville got the offense going in the second quarter, scoring three unanswered goals to take a 5-4 lead into halftime.

Allegra Catalano picked up right where she left off, netting her third goal of the game to kick off the second half and extend the Louisville lead to 6-4.

The Cardinals continued to play hard, but the Cavaliers offense came to life, scoring four straight goals to take a 9-7 lead with 5:05 left in the third quarter. Virginia's lead wouldn't last long as UofL answered with back-to-back goals from Catalano and Hannah Morris to tie the game 9-9 with 15 minutes left to play.

Virginia jumped out in front with two quick goals to start the fourth before Nicole Perroni fired in her second goal of the game to bring the Cards within one at 11-10. The Cavaliers would score one more goal to go up 12-10 before Richbourg answered again for Louisville to close the gap to 12-11 with 3:24 to play.

Louisville had one final chance to score, ripping a final shot as time expired, but couldn't find the back of the net.

Allegra Catalano led the Cardinals with a career-high five goals. Nicole Perroni filled the stat sheet, scoring two goals while adding five draw controls and a team and career high six ground balls and four caused turnovers. Hannah Morris and Paige Richbourg netted two goals each.

As a team, Louisville won the draw control battle 14-13 while grabbing 17 ground balls to Virginia's eight.

The Cardinals continue their homestand next Thursday, March 31 when they welcome Ohio State to Cardinal Stadium at 7 p.m. ET.

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.