Friday, February 7
Louisville, Ky.
12:00 PM
University of Louisville
1-0
10
vs
8
Denver
0-1
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2
3
4
F
Denver
1
2
1
4
8
Louisville
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10
Photo by: Rachel Klotz | Louisville Athletics
Cards Take Down No. 15 Denver 10-8 in Season Opener
February 07, 2025 | Women's Lacrosse
Lauren Figas registers her first career hat trick, J Pleck records nine saves
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville lacrosse team opened the 2025 campaign with a 10-8 win over No. 15 Denver Friday afternoon at UofL Lacrosse Stadium.
Junior Lauren Figas recorded her first career hat trick while junior Negai Nakazawa finished the game with two goals and two assists and Rian Adkins added a pair of goals. Senior J Pleck collected nine saves as the Cardinals (1-0) snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Pioneers (0-1). Â
"I think today was a great team win," said UofL head coach Scott Teeter. "We came out of the gate firing and we had a great first quarter on both ends of the field and in between the 30s. We capitalized on our offensive opportunities, but we made plays defensively, either saves or caused turnovers. I thought we did an excellent job on 50-50 balls. The game was up and down, but the girls battled all the way through it."
 Denver took a 1-0 lead to start the game when Olivia Ripple scored in the first two minutes of the contest. Louisville answered quickly with Figas' first goal of the game to even the score at 1-1. The game stayed tied at 1-1 until just under four minutes left in the first quarter when Reese Whiteman took an assist from Nakazawa to put UofL on top 2-1. Once they took the lead, the Cards never looked back as goals from Ella Berg, Figas and Nicholson made the score 5-1 to close the first quarter.
Denver added a pair of goals in the second quarter as Louisville took a 5-3 lead into halftime.
The third quarter saw the Cards outscore Pioneers by a 4-1 margin with Nakazawa delivering back-to-back goals to open the second-half offense. After a goal by Denver's Olivia Ripple midway through the third quarter, Louisville countered as Figas completed her hat trick and Adkins notched her first goal of the game.
The teams entered the fourth quarter with Louisville leading 9-4. Denver struck early with a goal in the first minute of play. Adkins connected on a free position shot to push the Cardinals' lead to 10-4 with 12:31 left in the game.Denver mounted an offensive attack with a trio of goals over the next five minutes to pull within two goals, but the Cardinals' defense held strong for the 10-8 win.
In the game, each team had 17 shots on goal with Pleck tallying eight saves and Denver's Emelia Bohi totaling seven. Ashley Osborne led the Cardinals with three ground balls and had a caused turnover.
"I thought J (Pleck) and the defense were rock solid against a really powerful attack," said Teeter. "Offensively, we made the adjustments as we went. We got away with some not-great shot selections, but we battled through it and we made enough to count and down the stretch we did everything that we needed to do to keep the clock on our side and made sure that we got the W today. I couldn't be more proud of our team."
Louisville will return to action on Tuesday when the Cardinals play host to Cincinnati at 3 p.m. at UofL Lacrosse Stadium.
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NOTES:
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Junior Lauren Figas recorded her first career hat trick while junior Negai Nakazawa finished the game with two goals and two assists and Rian Adkins added a pair of goals. Senior J Pleck collected nine saves as the Cardinals (1-0) snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Pioneers (0-1). Â
"I think today was a great team win," said UofL head coach Scott Teeter. "We came out of the gate firing and we had a great first quarter on both ends of the field and in between the 30s. We capitalized on our offensive opportunities, but we made plays defensively, either saves or caused turnovers. I thought we did an excellent job on 50-50 balls. The game was up and down, but the girls battled all the way through it."
 Denver took a 1-0 lead to start the game when Olivia Ripple scored in the first two minutes of the contest. Louisville answered quickly with Figas' first goal of the game to even the score at 1-1. The game stayed tied at 1-1 until just under four minutes left in the first quarter when Reese Whiteman took an assist from Nakazawa to put UofL on top 2-1. Once they took the lead, the Cards never looked back as goals from Ella Berg, Figas and Nicholson made the score 5-1 to close the first quarter.
Denver added a pair of goals in the second quarter as Louisville took a 5-3 lead into halftime.
The third quarter saw the Cards outscore Pioneers by a 4-1 margin with Nakazawa delivering back-to-back goals to open the second-half offense. After a goal by Denver's Olivia Ripple midway through the third quarter, Louisville countered as Figas completed her hat trick and Adkins notched her first goal of the game.
The teams entered the fourth quarter with Louisville leading 9-4. Denver struck early with a goal in the first minute of play. Adkins connected on a free position shot to push the Cardinals' lead to 10-4 with 12:31 left in the game.Denver mounted an offensive attack with a trio of goals over the next five minutes to pull within two goals, but the Cardinals' defense held strong for the 10-8 win.
In the game, each team had 17 shots on goal with Pleck tallying eight saves and Denver's Emelia Bohi totaling seven. Ashley Osborne led the Cardinals with three ground balls and had a caused turnover.
"I thought J (Pleck) and the defense were rock solid against a really powerful attack," said Teeter. "Offensively, we made the adjustments as we went. We got away with some not-great shot selections, but we battled through it and we made enough to count and down the stretch we did everything that we needed to do to keep the clock on our side and made sure that we got the W today. I couldn't be more proud of our team."
Louisville will return to action on Tuesday when the Cardinals play host to Cincinnati at 3 p.m. at UofL Lacrosse Stadium.
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NOTES:
- Louisville's 10 goals against Denver were the most against the Pioneers since Feb. 2022.
- Denver now holds an 8-4 lead in the series between the teams, but had won seven straight over Louisville entering Friday's contest.
- The win over Denver marks Louisville's first victory over a ranked team since March 16, 2-24 when the Cards beat then-. 20 Clemson 13-12.
- It is also the highest-ranked victory since April 22, 2017 when Louisville beat then-No. 7 Syracuse 9-8.
- Friday marked first season-opening win over a ranked team in program history.
- Negai Nakazawa tied a career high with four points.
- Five freshmen saw their first collegiate action with Ella Berg notching her first career goal and assist.
- Louisville improves to 11-7 in season openers and 14-4 in home openers.
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Team Stats
DEN
LOU
Shots
37
21
Turnovers
15
18
Caused Turnovers
10
8
Draw Controls
10
11
Free-Position Shots
10
7
Ground Balls
16
6
Game Leaders
Players
G
3
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
2
A
3
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
Players Mentioned
M
/ Women's Lacrosse
M
/ Women's Lacrosse
M
/ Women's Lacrosse
D
/ Women's Lacrosse
A
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