DiFatta Sets ACC Championship Saves Record in Opening Round Win Over Louisville

Wednesday, April 27

South Bend, Ind.

2 PM

Pitt

9-9

Louisville

7-11

Louisville

Pittsburgh

DiFatta Sets ACC Championship Saves Record in Opening Round Win Over Louisville

4/27/2022 6:48:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

SOUTH BEND, IND. --- Pitt extended its inaugural season of women's lacrosse action with a 13-10 win over Louisville Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the 2022 ACC Women's Lacrosse Championship at Arlotta Stadium. Second Team All-ACC selection Paulina DiFatta set an ACC Championship record with 19 saves to anchor the Pitt defense, while the offensive trio of Madisyn Kittell (3G, 2A), Paige Petty (2G, 2A) and Carlie Leach (2G, 1A) combined for seven goals and five assists on the day.

"I continue to be impressed by our team," Head Coach Emily Boissonneault said after the game. "Today we made adjustments defensively from our last Louisville game and that made a big difference in our overall outcome."

The Panthers improve to 9-9 on the season with the win and move on to face top-seeded and No. 1 ranked North Carolina in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship Friday, April 29 (12 p.m. – ACC Network).

Pitt struck first in the contest as Kittell fed Leach for a goal 2:09 into action and Petty tacked on a free position goal at the 9:37 mark for the 2-0 advantage. Nicole Perroni responded with three consecutive unassisted goals for the Cardinals in just over two and a half minutes to grab a one-goal lead.

The Panthers responded with opportunistic scoring and outstanding defense to grab control of the game. Leach found the back of the net at the 3:11 mark to tie the score and Pitt outscored the opposition 4-0 in the second quarter to grab a 7-3 halftime advantage. Freshman Ava Washington scored twice (12:45 and 8:21) in the second quarter, while Julia Foster (8:48) and Kittell (7:14) added goals in the second quarter to spark the Panthers.

Pitt struck first in the second half as Kierin Ratliff-Kailbourne made a nice cut between Louisville defenders and finished a quick feed from Kittell for a woman-down goal at the 10:38 mark of the third quarter. Louisville finally stopped a six-goal Pitt run and a 27-minute scoring drought with a goal from Allegra Catalano at the 8:15 mark to trim the deficit to 8-4. DiFatta recorded eight saves and the Pitt defense held the Cardinals to 12 consecutive missed shots during the 6-0 scoring run.

Kittell scored off an attack from behind the cage at the 2:42 mark to push the Pitt lead back to five goals. She used a quick 1-on-1 dodge and tight spin before beating the Louisville goalie with a diving skip shot into the net. Louisville continued to fight back with a pair of goals in the final 30 seconds of the quarter to head into the final 15-miniutes of action trailing 9-6.

Petty scored her 42^nd goal of the season off a quick step, rip into the upper corner of the cage off a free position attempt at the 12:31 mark and Chloe Jones countered a Louisville goal with a free position goal of her own at the 9:33 for an 11-7 advantage. The Cardinals got to within three goals again off a Caroline Blalock goal at 8:26 before the Pitt defense tightened once again.

DiFatta made another nice save off a Perroni shot with 7:34 remaining and the Panthers converted a Louisville turnover a short time later into a four-goal advantage. After a turnover and failed clear by the Cardinals, Petty fed Kittell with a 30-yard pass to the left side of the cage. Kittell dropped her shooting angle to the side and fired a laser over the goalie's left shoulder to cap off her hat trick and regain the four-goal cushion with 5:58 left.

Sophomore Maureen McNierney scored her 10^th goal of the season 34 seconds later for a 13-8 Pitt lead. Catalano and Blalock tacked on goals at the 4:48 and 2:39 marks to stay within striking distance but All-ACC Freshman Team selection Jill Fenech won the ensuing draw controls off both Louisville goals to prevent any quick scoring runs late in the game. Fenech finished with a team-high five draw controls.

DiFatta stopped a final shot by the Cardinals with 10 seconds remaining to set the ACC Championship saves record. The previous record of 18 was set by Maryland's Alex Kahoe in the 1999 title game against Virginia.

Pitt continued its season-long effectiveness off the eight-meter mark going 3-of-5 from the free position with one failed attempt coming on a hit post and the other occurring late in the contest when they were not pressing the goal to score. By contrast, DiFatta and the rest of the Panther defense combined to limit Louisville to just 2-of-9 on its free position opportunities.

"Paulina was a monster in cage today," Boissonneault continued. "She plays for these moments and I couldn't be more proud of her record-breaking performance."

The Panthers held Louisville's top goal scorer Hannah Morris to no goals on five shots. She entered the game with 56 goals on the season.

NOTES
*** DiFatta also set a career-high with 19 saves in the contest … she has recorded 10 or more saves in a game nine times this season and 36 times in her career
*** DiFatta added three ground balls and one caused turnover … she leads the ACC in saves and ground balls
*** Petty extended her consecutive games with a point streak to 79 and her goal scoring streak to 46 games … she has tallied at least one point in every game of her career … Petty moved into 26^th place in NCAA history with 246 career goals ... she now leads the Panthers with 42 goals and 53 points in 16 games played
*** Kittell recorded her third hat trick of the season and the sixth of her career … she had five points in a game for the second time this season
*** Leach registered a point for the 16 consecutive game … she is second on the team with 30 goals, while also ranking third in assists (10) and points (40)
*** Fenech collected five or more draw controls in a game for the seventh time this season
*** The Panthers had seven different goal scorers in the contest
*** Pitt's matchup against No. 1 North Carolina will mark its seventh meeting against a ranked opponent … The Panthers have already played teams ranked No. 2 (twice), No. 4, No. 7, No. 14 and No. 18 in the country