In a hard-fought battle, the University of Louisville lacrosse team suffered a narrow 12-11 defeat to Duke in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament on Sunday at the UofL Lacrosse Stadium. The loss concludes the Cardinals’ season with a 5-12 record, while Duke advances to the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament against Boston College, improving their season record to 8-9.
Graduate senior Hannah Morris led the offense in her final game for the Cardinals, scoring five goals on eight shots, including a 3-of-4 performance in free position attempts. Goalie Sara Addeche continued her strong play, guarding the net for the entire 60 minutes and recording 16 saves with a .571 save percentage.
Head coach Scott Teeter praised his team’s effort, saying, “Today I thought we battled for 60 minutes. We battled through some adversity, and unfortunately, Duke made one more play than we did. We had our chances.” Teeter commended the team for leaving it all on the field.
Duke began the match with a 3-0 lead before Negai Nakazawa scored the Cardinals’ first goal in the seventh minute. Duke scored again, but Morris responded with a goal just 10 seconds before the end of the first quarter, leaving the Cardinals trailing 4-2.
In the second quarter, Nakazawa scored again on an assist from her sister Kokoro, closing the gap to 4-3. Duke extended their lead to 5-3, but Nicole Perroni’s free position goal brought the Cardinals within one point again. Three consecutive goals from Morris gave UofL a 7-6 lead, but Duke managed to tie the game at 7-7 by halftime.
In the third quarter, Nakazawa scored her third goal of the game on another assist from Kokoro, followed by Morris’ fifth goal, putting the Cardinals ahead 9-7. Duke fought back with three straight goals, taking a 10-9 lead. Allegra Catalano’s goal tied the game at 10-10 heading into the final quarter.
Kokoro Nakazawa scored her 22nd goal of the season, giving the Cardinals an 11-10 lead, but Duke netted two more goals to reclaim the lead at 12-11. In the final minute, the Cardinals had a chance to tie the game, but fell short.
Nicole Perroni extended her program-high goal-scoring streak to 36 consecutive games with her second-quarter goal, adding one ground ball, five draw controls, and two caused turnovers. Maggie Foster led the defense with a career-high five ground balls and one caused turnover, while Madi McKee contributed one ground ball, two draw controls, and one caused turnover. Negai Nakazawa also added one ground ball to her performance.
