No. 15 Virginia Hosts Louisville in ACC Play

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April 14, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 15 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (8-7, 2-3 ACC) returns to ACC play Saturday (April 15) when it hosts Louisville (10-5, 2-3 ACC) at 1 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium.

The game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra and can be viewed through ESPN3 or the WatchESPN app. Links for the stream, as well as live stats, are available on VirginiaSports.com. The game has been designated as a Cavman’s Crew Day, with general admission tickets for $3 with the promo code. There will be a face painter and balloon artist pre-game, an opportunity to stand with the team on the field for starting lineups and post-game autographs.

Virginia snapped a three-game losing streak with a 16-13 win over Navy on Wednesday night. The Cavaliers jumped out to a 9-4 lead and were up 13-6 with 21 minutes to play, but had to hold off Navy’s 7-3 run to close out the game. Sophomores Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) and Avery Shoemaker (Wyndmoor, Pa.) combined for 11 goals and two assists in the win.

Jackson, who tallied a career-high six goals against Navy, has scored in every game for UVA this season and leads the team with 54 points. It was her seventh, multi-goal game this season. Senior Kelly Reese (Severna Park, Md.) is second with 44 points, scoring a team-best 35 goals this season. Fellow senior Besser Dyson (Alexandria, Va.) has 42 points and leads the team with 25 assists.

Junior goalkeeper Rachel Vander Kolk (Severna Park, Md.) has recorded 12 saves in three-straight games for the Cavaliers.

UVA and Louisville met for the first time in 2015 when the Cardinals joined the ACC. Virginia has won both of the meetings between the two teams. Last season, the No. 14 Cavaliers edged the No. 5 Cardinals 10-9 in Louisville. UVA led for most of the game, and the Cardinals had a shot to tie with 11 seconds left but it was saved by Vander Kolk. Virginia won the first meeting 17-9 in Charlottesville on April 12, 2015.

Louisville has split its last two ACC contests, defeating Virginia Tech 13-12 on April 1, before falling to No. 2 North Carolina last Saturday, April 8. The Cardinals lead the ACC and are sixth in the nation with a .505 save percentage. Louisville is holding opponents to 9.60 goals per game, while averaging 11.87. Hannah Koloski has 56 goals to lead all players nationally, and is sixth with 3.73 goals per game. Koloski also leads the nation in free position goals per game with 1.73. Goalkeeper Brittany Read is second in the NCAA with 146 saves, averaging 9.73 saves per contest to rank 19th nationally and lead the ACC.

Virginia closes out the regular season at home on Saturday (April 22) when it hosts Virginia Tech in a Commonwealth Clash game at 1 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium.