Louisville Prevails Over Cincinnati 11-9

Wednesday, February 12

Louisville, Ky.

12:00 PM

University of Louisville

2-0

Cincinnati

0-2

Cincinnati

Louisville

Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

February 12, 2025 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Jolly Patel

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville lacrosse team defeated Cincinnati 11-9 on a cold, rainy Wednesday afternoon at UofL Lacrosse Stadium.

A balanced offensive attack led the Cardinals (2-0) to victory, with eight different players finding the back of the net. Negai Nakazawa, Lauren Figas, and Reese Whiteman scored two goals each, while Ella Berg, Abby Scully, Maggie McMahon, Erin Nicholson, and Izzy Seikel added a goal apiece. McMahon led the team with two assists.

"I think today was a great lacrosse game," said UofL head coach Scott Teeter. "We had to fight through some adversity, but our start today was phenomenal, building a 5-0 lead in the first quarter. It really went in all areas of the field starting with the draw and defensively, all the way through. It was the start that we needed. And give Cincinnati credit, they battled when they were behind and made a game of it. We can learn through certain situations, but we've got to realize too that we're growing as a program."

Louisville came out firing, dominating the first quarter with a 5-0 lead. Whiteman struck first with an assist from Berg to put the Cardinals on the board before Nicholson and Figas added unassisted goals. The Cardinals controlled possession and capitalized on scoring chances as McMahon delivered assists to Scully and Figas, while the defense held Cincinnati scoreless in the opening period.

The Bearcats (0-2) found their footing in the second quarter, scoring twice, but goals by Berg and McMahon helped Louisville maintain a 7-2 lead at halftime.

Cincinnati responded with a strong third quarter, outscoring Louisville 4-2 to narrow the deficit. The Bearcats' Lauren Ottensmeyer led the charge with a hat trick cutting the lead to 7-6 before Adkins connected with Whiteman for her second goal of the game. Two minutes later, Whiteman assisted Nakazawa to make the score 9-6 heading into the fourth quarter.

Cincinnati continued to push in the fourth, scoring three unanswered goals to trim Louisville's lead to one goal. With momentum shifting, the Cardinals remained composed, tightening up defensively and controlling possession in the final minutes.

Nakazawa delivered the dagger, finding the back of the net with 1:24 left on the clock to give Louisville the cushion it needed to secure the hard-fought 11-9 victory.

Both teams finished with 26 total shots, as Louisville put 19 on goal compared to UC's 16. The Cardinals also held advantages in draw controls (13-10) and ground balls (14-13). Nakazawa led Louisville with five draw controls while Ava Coyle led all players with four ground balls. J Pleck (2-0) recorded seven saves in goal, while Cincinnati's Hailey Darko (0-2) totaled eight.

"We have a lot of players who are stepping up and playing a lot of minutes for us this year who played limited minutes in the past. So when they're in those scenarios, they've got to learn from it and it's always better when you get the 'W' through learning curves," said Teeter. "I'm really happy for our girls, they competed for 60 minutes. It started with the draw, 50-50 balls, plays on defense and we made some nice adjustments when their goalie played a really good game today. We finished some big shots. At the end, Negai got a big one for us at the free position… Olivia Scroggie did a great job and limited their top player to one shot and zero goals today which is outstanding."

Louisville will return to action on Saturday, February 15, when the Cards travel to Columbus to take on Ohio State at 10 a.m.