No. 9 Field Hockey Falls 2-1 to No. 3 North Carolina in ACC Quarterfinals

Thursday, November 5

Charlottesville, Va.

4:00 PM

University of Louisville

(13-6)

North Carolina

(16-2)

Louisville

North Carolina

No. 9 Field Hockey Falls 2-1 to No. 3 North Carolina in ACC Quarterfinals

November 05, 2015 | Field Hockey

Box Score

Cards threaten late in the game, but fall short against No. 3 North Carolina

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The ninth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team fell 2-1 to No. 3 North Carolina in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship Thursday evening at the University of Virginia's Turf Field. The Cardinals drop to 13-6 on the season while the Tar Heels improve to 16-2.

"I'm proud of the group, we fought very hard in the last 14 or 15 minutes, you could see we were putting a lot of pressure on them. But you've got to take your opportunities," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "We definitely have learned and we've grown a lot from this game. Hopefully we will have another opportunity next weekend and we'll do one better."

The teams played through 13 scoreless minutes before a penalty stroke was award to North Carolina. Nina Notman blasted a shot past Louisville freshman goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran to put the Tar Heels on the scoreboard.

Less than a minute later, North Carolina struck again. Notman's shot was stopped by McFerran, but Emily Wold was there for the rebound to make the score 2-0 at the 15:47 mark in the game.

The Tar Heels took the 2-0 lead into halftime after outshooting Louisville 12-7 and holding a 5-2 advantage in penalty corners.

The teams continued to battle in the second half as the Tar Heels would hold a 5-4 edge in shots and each team was awarded one penalty corner. The score remained 2-0 until just under eight minutes remaining in the game.

On Louisville's only corner of the second half, freshman Tess Hannah's initial shot was saved by North Carolina's Shannon Johnson, but sophomore Stephanie Byrne collected the rebound and sent the ball into the cage. Byrne's eighth goal of the season pulled the Cards within one goal at the 62:07 mark in the game. Louisville continued its attack in the final seven minutes, but could not break through again.

In the game, North Carolina outshot Louisville 17-11 and held a 6-3 advantage in corners. McFerran (13-6) had five saves while UNC's Johnson (16-2) had six stops in the game.

"We certainly had the team prepared well. We had a great week of practice - a very short week – but we did a nice job on the scout of UNC and we knew what we had to do," said Sowry. "Defensively we had to work hard and take away their midfield strength and with the ball, we had to play to our identity and keep passing the ball. In the end I think we defended well, with the exception that you've got to take some risks and with that will come rewards. We didn't do that enough times to get the rewards."

Louisville (13-6) will learn if it will be making a second-consecutive NCAA tournament appearance when the field is announced on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 10 p.m. (EST) on NCAA.com.