University of Louisville
INDIANA
No. 13 Field Hockey Edges Indiana 3-2 in OT
October 25, 2007 | Field Hockey
Oct. 25, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - - Senior Allison Maffitt scored twice, including the game winner, as the 13th-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team staged a dramatic comeback, overcoming a 2-0 second half deficit to beat Indiana 3-2 in overtime Thursday evening at Trager Stadium. The win marks the Cards' eighth in a row, tying the school record for the longest winning streak.
The teams played scoreless first half in which Louisville outshot the Hoosiers 13-0 and held a 9-0 advantage in penalty corners. IU goalkeeper Haley Exner turned back seven Cardinal shots to keep the game scoreless going into the break.
"I thought we played some of our best hockey of the season in the first half," said U of L coach Pam Bustin. "We played together as a team, everyone was involved, we attacked the ball - we just didn't see the return against a strong Indiana goalkeeper."
As the second half started, Indiana wasted little time getting on the scoreboard capitalizing on their first corner of the game less than four minutes into half. Meg O'Connell sent a rebound from Danitra Castro's shot past Cardinal goalkeeper Marie-Claire Heller to make it a 1-0 game.
Ten minutes later, the Hoosiers increased the lead to 2-0 on their third corner of the game. Amanda Oyler delivered the goal with assists from Kate O'Connell and Meredith Brown.
The Cardinals finally got on the scoreboard with less than seven minutes remaining in regulation. After coming up empty on their first 17 corners, Maffitt deflected freshman Nicole Youman's initial shot to pull Louisville within one goal at the 63:29 mark.
The Cards drew their next penalty corner with less than a minute left to play. This time freshman Julie Barton knocked in Youman's shot to tie the game with 19 seconds on the clock.
With the game tied at the end of regulation, the teams entered a 15 minute sudden-victory overtime period with the field cut down to seven players per team.
The deciding goal came 44 seconds into the overtime period when Maffitt connected on a rebound from Youman's shot at the 70:44. The goal marked Maffitt's team-leading 11th score of the season.
"I am proud that we continued to stay focused on our game plan," said Bustin. "The team stuck with it to the very end, and really kept the heads in the game and never gave up."
Indiana goalkeeper Haley Exner had a strong performance in the cage, posting 12 saves while surrendering three goals for the first time this season. IU drops to 7-9.
Louisville wraps up the regular season with a 14-5 overall record. The Cards, who are guaranteed a share of the BIG EAST regular season title with a 5-1 league record, await their seeding in the conference tournament.
Connecticut and Providence are currently tied for second at 4-1 and will play each other on Oct. 27 to determine who will share the regular season title with the Cards. According to head-to-head results, if UConn wins, the Huskies will earn the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, but if Providence wins, U of L will be awarded the top seed. The BIG EAST Conference tournament will take place Nov. 3-4 at Syracuse's J.S. Coyne Field.
Notes: This is the third time in school history the Cards have put together an eight-game winning streak. The record was set in 1980 and tied in 2001.
U of L is 4-0 in overtime games this season.
