Cards Down Duke on Senior Day

Saturday, April 15

LOUISVILLE, KY

1 p.m.

University of Louisville

5-10

Duke

7-8

Duke

Louisville

Photo by: Rachel Klotz | Louisville Athletics

April 15, 2023 | Women's Lacrosse

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Sara Addeche recorded a program-high 17 saves.

By: Cortney VanLiew

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Led by a top-notch performance from goalie Sara Addeche, the University of Louisville took down Duke with a 14-13 win on senior day at the UofL Lacrosse Stadium.

With the win, Louisville moved to 5-10 on the year and 2-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while Duke fell to 7-8 overall and 1-7 in ACC play.

"Today, I thought it was an excellent team effort," said head coach Scott Teeter. "A lot of adversity on both sides for us and Duke. It was a back and forth game. We had an answer, we had a response. We went on a couple of runs of our own today, which was excellent for senior day. We sent our seniors off on a win. I couldn't be more proud of our effort on both ends of the field and on our draw teams as well."

Nicole Perroni scored a goal four minutes into the game to put the Cardinals on the board first. Duke answered back with five straight goals before Hannah Morris rocketed in a goal. Duke scored again but Morris earned the final goal of the quarter with a free position shot.

With a 6-3 lead for the Blue Devils to start the second quarter, the Cardinals scored back-to-back goals from Negai Nakazawa and Perroni to move the Cards within one. Duke scored two more times, but Perroni earned her hat trick with two minutes remaining in the half. The Cardinals entered the locker room down two at the half.

The third quarter was full of stellar defense on both sides of the ball to allow for three total goals quarter. Allegra Catalano scored on an assist from Tiffany Natoli. Perroni dished one to Morris to earn Morris her fourth hat trick of the season.

Down 9-8 to start the fourth quarter, Perroni scored two goals in less than 60 seconds. Negai Nakazawa scored another goal to give UofL the two-point lead, but a Duke goal cut the lead to 11-10. Negai Nakazawa shot in a free position goal to earn the first hat trick of her career. Duke scored again but Kokoro Nakazawa notched in a goal on an assist from Negai to give the Cards the 13-11 lead. Izzy Seikel also got in the scoring mix with just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter. Duke scored two straight goals to cut the UofL lead to 14-13, but two saves from Sara Addeche gave the Cardinals the win.

Sara Addeche recorded a career-high 17 saves, 11 of which came in the second half. This ties the program record for most saves in a game. The only other Cardinal to record 17 saves in a game was Rachel Florek in 2020.

Perroni led the offense with a team-high six points, with a season-high five goals and one assist. Perroni extended her goal-scoring streak and point-scoring streak to 34, tying the program record for goal-scoring streak held by Emily Dashiell (May 1, 2009-April 29, 2011). The senior recorded three ground balls, six draw controls, and two caused turnovers.

Negai Nakazawa had a career-high four points, earning her first hat trick and one assist. The freshman had two ground balls, two draw controls, and one caused turnover.

Prior to the game, UofL honored 11 seniors: Kristen Pezzulo, Hannah Morris, Alexa Steffens, Sydney Kirchenheiter, Allegra Catalano, Maggie Foster, Izzy Holmes, Rachel Lifson, Madi McKee, Ashley Osborne, and Nicole Perroni.

Louisville heads to South Bend, Ind. on Thursday to take on Notre Dame at 7 p.m. ET for its final game of regular season.