Cards Come Up Short Against No. 19 Virginia

Saturday, March 28

LOUISVILLE, KY

12:00 PM

University of Louisville

6-6, 2-5

Virginia

6-7, 4-3

Virginia

Louisville

March 28, 2026 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

Cavaliers score five unanswered goals in the fourth quarter to win 12-10

By: Lori Harmon

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville lacrosse team fell 12-10 to No. 19 Virginia in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup Saturday afternoon at UofL Lacrosse Stadium.

In the game, the Cardinals (6-6, 2-5 ACC) led by three entering the fourth quarter, but the Cavaliers (6-7, 4-3) netted five unanswered goals in the fourth to win 12-10.

"I thought we played extremely well for three quarters," said UofL head coach Scott Teeter. "Our start was back and forth, but we got out and took the lead in the first half and we were executing on offense. We could have made more plays defensively in the first half to build the lead more, but it comes down to the fact that we didn't finish the game well. We had a three goal lead going into the fourth quarter and we did not finish. Give Virginia all the credit, if you look at the fourth quarter stats, they had the ball and when we did get the ball, we turned it over. When we got on offense, we couldn't generate any looks and on defense we got tired and we just made too many mistakes and we were outscored 5-0 and that's the difference in today's game."

Ella Berg paced Louisville with three goals, her seventh hat trick of the season. Reese Whiteman, Maggie McMahon and Charlotte Jackson tallied three points apiece, each with a pair of goals and an assist. Rian Adkins rounded out the scoring column with a goal and an assist. Haley Richards recorded 11 saves, her seventh game with double digit stops.

The first quarter saw the teams exchange goals with Louisville ending the frame with a 4-3 advantage. The Cards opened the scoring on their first possession of the game. After Olivia Scroggie earned the initial draw control, Grayce Kitchen found McMahon who put Louisville on the scoreboard just 50 seconds into the contest.

Virginia quickly responded, capitalizing on a Louisville turnover with a goal by Kate Galica. The Cards countered less than a minute later with Berg's first score of the game which was followed by another UVA goal to even the score.

Berg struck again following a turnover by the Cavaliers to put the Cards back on top midway through the first quarter and UVA tied the game once again before Whiteman completed the scoring in the opening gram to give Louisville a 4-3 lead entering the second quarter.

The Cardinals continued their run to take a 6-3 lead with goals by Jackson and Whiteman just under five minutes into the second quarter. The teams went on to exchange goals with Galica scoring twice and McMahon and Adkins each countering to extend the Cardinals' lead back to three before UVA ended the half with a last second goal by Galica to make the halftime score 8-6.

In the third quarter, Jackson connected on a feed from Whiteman to make the score 9-6, but a turnover led to another Cavalier goal, keeping them within striking range. Berg and Adkins combined to push the Cardinals' lead to 10-7 entering the final stanza.

Virginia got the fourth quarter offense started in the first with a goal by Fiona Allen which opened a string of five unanswered scores as the Cavaliers took the lead for the first time in the game and went on to prevail 12-10. The Cardinals tallied six shots in the final quarter with three of them landing on goal and turned back by Virginia goalie Elyse Finnelle.

Overall, Virginia outshot Louisville 38-24 with a 23-17 edge in shots on goal . The Cavaliers also held the advantage in draw controls 14-9. UVA's Galica grabbed a game high six while Olivia Scroggie collected five. The Cards led 20-15 in ground balls with Erin Nicholson earning a career-high six. Galica led all scorers with four goals and Finnelle had seven saves on the day for the Cavaliers.

Louisville will resume ACC play on April 4 when the Cardinals hit the road for the West Coast to take on No. 2 Stanford.