PHILADELPHIA -- First-year attacker Bergan Foley scored a team-leading five goals for the third straight game to lead the Louisville lacrosse team to a 15-7 road win over Villanova on Sunday afternoon at Villanova Stadium in their fifth and final spring break road game. The victory is the Cards first ever win over a BIG EAST opponent.

Foley, a native of nearby Huntingdon Valley, Pa., entered the week ranked 14th in the nation in scoring at 3.8 goals per game and the first-year player is surely to move up after this weeks 15-goal performance in the Cards three games. She scored three of the Cards four first half goals and added two more in the second half as Louisville turned a close game at halftime into a second half route on the road.

After the two teams were tied at 4-4 through the first 30 minutes of play, the Cards (6-2) opened the second half with a pair of goals from first-year midfielders Brittany Poist (29:23) and Sierra Smith-Hart to take a 6-4 lead with 28:54 left in the game.

The Wildcats (2-4) pulled to within one at 6-5 with a Katie Stone goal with 27:07 left, but the Cards put the game away by outscoring the hosts 9-1 over a span of more than 16 minutes in the second half capped by another Smith-Hart goal with 8:08 left in the game to make it 15-6. Smith-Hart finished the day with four goals and a team-leading two assists.

The Cards controlled 14 of 24 draws on the day and the Louisville defense was able to take Villanova out of its comfort zone as the Wildcats finished with a season-high 33 turnovers. Captains Jen Heup and Jamie Ward led the Cardinal defense with four ground balls each.

Louisville closed its five-game, 10-day spring break road trip at 3-2 with both losses coming by a one-goal margin.

Up next, the Cards will play the final game of six straight on the road as they face Virginia Tech on Friday at 4:00 p.m. ET in Blacksburg, Va.

2008-03-16