Cards Fall 3-2 to Northwestern in Overtime Heartbreaker

Saturday, November 11

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:00 PM

University of Louisville

(14-8)

Northwestern

(15-6)

OT 2

Louisville

Northwestern

Photo by: Richard Palaikis II

Cards Fall 3-2 to Northwestern in Overtime Heartbreaker

November 11, 2017 | Field Hockey

Box Score NCAA First Round: Northwestern 3 - Louisville 2 Justine Sowry Postgame Interview

No. 8 Cards lead 2-1 in second half, but fall 3-2 in overtime to No. 10 Northwestern in the first round of the NCAA tournament

By: Lori Korte

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The eighth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team lost a 3-2 overtime heartbreaker to No. 10 Northwestern Saturday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Michigan's Ocker Field. The Cards wrap up the season with a 14-8 overall record after earning their fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance and posting a runner-up finish in the ACC championship.

Puck Pentenga's penalty corner goal in the third minute of overtime lifted Northwestern (15-6) to the NCAA quarterfinals to face No. 3 Michigan which survived its first round match against Syracuse with a 1-0 overtime victory.

The final goal of the game capped a rollercoaster contest which featured three lead changes and two ties with the Wildcats owning an 11-3 advantage in shots on goal and an 8-1 edge in corners including one in overtime which produced the game-winner.

"We started the game okay and then we just went away from our identity and Northwestern started to gain momentum and build a little bit of confidence," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "We made some adjustments at halftime and I thought we started to play some decent hockey in the second half. Northwestern is an excellent team and they're well-coached. For as many penalty corners that we practiced defending, you can't give up as many as we did, and ultimately they were able to execute – their three goals were corners. We were up 2-1 and we should have been able to control manage the game late in that half."

The Cardinals took early possession and garnered the first scoring opportunity of the game, but sophomore Minout Mink's shot was stopped by Northwestern goalkeeper Annie Kalfas to keep the contest scoreless.

Northwestern broke through on its third corner of the half when Elena Curley capitalized on assists from Kirsten Mansfield and Sophia Miller at the 26:18 mark in the game.

The Wildcats had another chance to score with a corner after earning a corner in the final seconds of the half, but the Cardinals' defense stood strong to keep the score 1-0 entering the break after the Wildcats held a 10-2 advantage in shots and a 4-1 edge in corners.

In the second half, Northwestern picked up where it left off, drawing a corner in the second minute, but Mansfield's shot was blocked and the Cardinals countered with a corner of their own. After receiving a pass from senior Marigrace Ragsdale, junior Taylor Stone directed a shot towards the right post where freshman Madison Walsh was positioned to knock in her fifth goal of the season to tie the game in the fourth minute of the second half.

Eleven minutes later, Northwestern had another corner opportunity, but McFerran stopped the shot and the defense cleared the ball out of the circle and the Cards proceeded to work their way down the field to earn their second corner of the period. Martin Pelegrina got the corner started and senior Nicole Woods provided the stop for Mink, who blasted a shot into the cage for her team-best 11 goal of the season to push the Cards ahead 2-1 with just under 17 minutes remaining in regulation.

The Cardinals' defense withstood three straight Wildcat penalty corners in the next three minutes to maintain the lead. The Wildcats converted on their final corner during regulation with a goal from Mansfield with nine minutes left on the clock.

Louisville came right back down the field and earned a corner, but senior Abby Grimes' shot was blocked and the game remained tied at 2-2 to force a 7v7 sudden-victory overtime period.

The Cards took possession early in the extra period, but the Wildcats were awarded a corner in the third minute and Pentenga drilled a shot into the cage for the deciding goal.

"We have to continue to learn," said Sowry. "I'm very proud of my three seniors. There was a point in the season where it could have gone one of two different directions and we chose the right path and we were able to put together an awesome season. I'm so proud of what we were able to accomplish and the wins that we were able to accomplish as well. Getting ACC tournament wins, I think we're right there, but we certainly have to learn lessons from today's game and use it moving forward."

NOTES:
Louisville's seniors: Abby Grimes, Marigrace Ragsdale and Nicole Woods complete their careers as the only class in program to earn four NCAA appearances. As a class, they have won 58 games while compiling an impressive 33-9 record at Trager Stadium in their four years. They have helped the program reach several milestones including UofL's first ACC Championship game appearance this season while leading the transition into the ACC including a school-record four straight NCAA appearances. Their teams have been a mainstay in the national top 20 rankings, while spending 27 weeks among the top 10, reaching as high as No. 5 in 2014. This season they helped the Cardinals to a program-best 4-2 record in ACC play and finished tied for second in the conference. The class of 2017 has also excelled academically, earning the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association Academic team award three times.