Cards Play Host to No. 15 Denver Friday in Season Opener

Friday, February 7

Louisville, Ky.

12:00 PM

University of Louisville

Denver

Negai Nakazawa with the ball in the game against Virginia

Photo by: Rachel Klotz | Louisville Athletics

Cards Play Host to No. 15 Denver Friday in Season Opener

February 06, 2025 | Women's Lacrosse

Rian Adkins Pre-Game Interview Ashley Osborne Pre-Game Interview

Louisville and Denver will meet Friday at 12 p.m. in both teams' season opener

WEEKEND INFORMATION
Louisville vs. No. 15 Denver
Date: Feb. 7, 2025, 12 p.m.
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: UofL Lacrosse Stadium
Admission: Free | UofL Clear Bag Policy
Television: ACC Network; Tyler Bright (Play-by-play); Riley Hemmer (Analyst)
Game Links: Live Scoring | ACCN Watch Link | Game Notes: Louisville | Denver

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville lacrosse team will open the 2025 season Friday when the Cardinals play host to No. 15 Denver at 12 p.m. Admission is free.

COACH SCOTT TEETER ON THE SEASON OPENER
"We're excited to play outside competition and see what we do well. We'll see a lot of brand new faces out there playing at a high level. Denver is a good team and we're going to throw everything we've got at them and make in-game adjustments. I think we're ready, our systems are there, we've got a good scout. It will be interesting to see if our younger players can put that into play and make adjustments along the way."

OPENING DRAW
• The Cards are coming off of an 8-11 campaign in 2024 after posting their first-ever ACC tournament win beating Virginia Tech 13-11 in the first round.
• Louisville returns 25 players from last year's squad including nine seniors. The Cardinals also welcome 11 freshman to this year's roster.
• The Cards will face a challenging schedule with eight opponents ranked among the top 25 in the Inside Lacrosse Preseason Media poll. Five of those teams participated in the NCAA Tournament last year with Boston College winning the title.
• Louisville is 10-7 in season openers and 13-4 in home openers. The Cardinals won their 2024 home opener with a 14-9 win over Marquette on Feb. 16.
• Head coach Scott Teeter enters his eighth season at the helm at Louisville and has guided the Cardinals to 41 wins.

LOUISVILLE VS. DENVER
Series History: Denver owns an 8-3 record in the series with a 3-2 edge at Louisville Lacrosse Stadium.
Last Meeting: Feb. 9, 2024 - The University of Louisville women's lacrosse team could not overcome the Pioneers' offense, falling short at then-No. 4 Denver, 16-8 to open up the season. Kokoro Nakazawa led the way for the Cardinals, recording her fourth career hat trick. Denver's Lauren Black and Julia Gilbert each recorded hat tricks this evening with three apiece. Four other Pioneers had two goals apiece.
Scouting the Pioneers: Denver enters the year ranked No. 15 in the Inside Lacrosse/KANE Preseason media poll. Lauren Black, Emelia Bohi, Caroline Colimore, Ryan Dineen, and Megan Klingenberg have been named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.
• In 2024, the Pioneers finished with a 16-4 record and a 5-0 mark in BIG EAST play to win the conference regular season title. Denver was ranked No. 14 in the ILWCA's Final Top 25 Poll. They won their fourth straight BIG EAST Tournament Championship and appeared in the NCAA tournament. Denver ended its season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 17-4 loss to Northwestern
• Liza Kelly is in her 19th season at the helm with an overall career record of 316-114 and is coming off her fourth straight season winning the Big East.
Cardinal Connection: Friday's game will be a reunion for Louisville's Denver attacker Lauren Black and Louisville's midfielder Rian Adkins and attacker Reese Whiteman. The trio helped Team Canada earn a silver medal at the 2024 U20 World Lacrosse Championship in Hong Kong. UofL assistant coach Allison Daley also served as the head coach of Canada's U20 national team.

UP NEXT
Following Friday's season opener, the Cardinals will stay at UofL Lacrosse Stadium for a matchup with Cincinnati Tuesday at 12 p.m.

KEEPING UP WITH THE CARDS
THE VETERANS
Louisville returns 25 players from the 2024 roster, including 17 upperclassmen. Junior midfielder Negai Nakazawa, will take the field as the Cardinals' leading returning scorer who registered 24 goals and 11 assists along with 45 draw controls. Junior midfielder Rian Adkins is one of Louisville's top returning scorers following a sophomore campaign in which she scored 13 goals and dished out three assists. Junior attacker Maggie McMahon rounds out the top three returning scorers with 12 goals and four assists in 2024. Graduate student Ashley Osborne will help direct the Cardinals' defense, after collecting 22 groundballs last season.
• McMahon brings a four-game goal streak into the season dating back to the April 12, 2024 game against Duke. She also registered at least one point in the final six games of 2024 dating back to the April 6 contest against Virginia.

THE NEWCOMERS
Louisville welcomes 11 freshmen to the 2025 squad including attackers Ella Berg, Issy Leech, Kate Daniels; midfielders Rosie Cobler, Ella Terrell, Charlotte Jackson, Abbie Dunlap, Lilly Boyle; defenders Olivia Scroggie and Riley Engelberg and goalie Haley Richards.

TOUGH SCHEDULE
The Cards will face a challenging schedule with seven opponents that finished the 2024 season ranked in the IWLCA top 25 Boston College (1), Notre Dame (9), Virginia (10), Denver (14), Stanford (17), North Carolina (19) and Duke (24). Five of those teams participated in the NCAA Tournament last year with Boston College winning the title.
• Eight ACC teams are ranked in the preseason KANE Inside Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Top 25. Boston College is No. 1 in the preseason and is followed by North Carolina at No. 4, Syracuse at No. 6, Virginia at No. 9, Notre Dame at No. 13, Stanford at No. 20, Clemson at No. 21 and Duke at No. 25. The ACC's eight representatives in the poll are the most of any conference.

HOME SWEET HOME
Friday's home opener against No. 15 Denver will begin an eight-game home slate for the 2025 season that will feature five ranked teams including four ACC opponents.
• Louisville is 80-53 all-time at home.

LOOKING BACK ON 2024
• The Cardinals posted their first-ever ACC tournament win beating Virginia Tech 13-11 in the first round.
• Louisville earned a 13-12 win over No. 20 Clemson in 2024
• Nicole Perroni (first team) and Kokoro Nakazawa (second team) earned All-ACC honors – both were also named to the IWLCA West/Midwest All-Region First Team
• 2024 graduates Nicole Perroni (first team) and Kokoro Nakazawa (second team) earned All-ACC honors – both were also named to the IWLCA West/Midwest All-Region First Team
• Perroni ended her career as a 2024 IWLCA second team all-American. She tallied 45 goals and 10 assists in her final collegiate season. She ended her Louisville career on a 55-game point scoring streak and a 54-game goal scoring streak, both the longest streaks in program history.
• Kokoro Nakazawa led the Cardinals in scoring last season with 61 goals and 21 assists. She ranked second in the ACC (21st nationally) in goals and second in the conference (22nd nationally) with 82 points.
• Goalkeeper Sara Addeche two-year starter and program leader in career saves (360), led the ACC in saves per game (8.63).