Virginia Takes on Louisville in ACC Quarterfinals

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April 26, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s lacrosse team (10-7) begins play at the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Lacrosse Championship against six-seed Louisville (11-6) at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 27 at Richmond Backers Stadium in Richmond, Va.

All seven of the 2017 ACC Championship games will be televised on the ACC’s Regional Sports Networks (RSN) and will also be available on ACC Network Extra with Tom Werme (play-by-play) and Leah Secondo (color) on the call. Live stats can be found through links on the ACC Championship Central page.

Virginia is 19-16 all-time at the ACC Championship. The Cavaliers have fallen in the quarterfinals the last two trips, including a 9-8 loss to Duke in 2016. UVA has won five ACC titles (`98, `04, `06, `07, `08). The last time UVA was the No. 3 seed was in 2010. The Cavaliers topped No. 6 seed Virginia Tech 18-6 in the quarterfinals, before falling to the No. 1 seed, Maryland 10-6 in the semifinal.

The Cavaliers took the three-seed after closing out the regular season on a three-game win streak, including an 11-7 win over Louisville on April 15. UVA most recently defeated No. 19 Virginia Tech 6-5 in the regular season finale. Three players have scored over 30 goals this season, led by senior Kelly Reese’s (Severna Park, Md.) 37. Sophomore Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) has a team-high 59 points. Junior goalkeeper Rachel Vander Kolk (Severna Park, Md.) has tallied 12 saves in three of the last four games.

Louisville earned the No. 6 seed after closing out the regular season with a 9-8 win over then-No. 7 Syracuse. The Cardinals lead the ACC in save percentage (.513) and are third in scoring defense (9.59). Hannah Koloski leads the conference in goals, with 58 on the season. Goalkeeper Brittany Read is first in the ACC in save percentage (.517), total saves (171) and saves per game (10.06).

Virginia is 3-0 all-time against Louisville. The Cavaliers won the regular season meeting over the Cardinals, 11-7, on April 15 in Charlottesville, Va. This will be the first time the two teams have met in the ACC Championship, with Louisville in its third year as a member of the league.

All session tickets are $20 and single session tickets are $8. Students and youth (18 and under) and current students of ACC schools (with college I.D.) can enter free.

The winner of the Louisville/Virginia game will advance to the semifinals to take on either No. 2 Syracuse or No. 7 Virginia Tech at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 28. The winner of Friday’s semifinal games will advance to the championship on Sunday, April 30 at 1 p.m.