No. 24 Ohio State Edges Cards 3-2 in Overtime

Sunday, August 26

LOUISVILLE, KY

1:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

(1-1)

OHIO STATE

(1-1)

OT 2

Ohio State

LOU

August 26, 2018 | Field Hockey

Box Score Ohio State 3 - Louisville 2 OT Justine Sowry Postgame Interview Photo Gallery

Cards take a 2-0 lead behind goals by Mercedes Pastor and Erica Cooper, but Buckeyes register three unanswered goals

By: Lori Korte

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Esther Clotet's goal in the second minute of overtime lifted No. 24 Ohio State to a 3-2 win over No. 8 Louisville Sunday afternoon at Trager Stadium.

The Cardinals (1-1) took at 2-0 lead in the first half, but the Buckeyes regrouped to tie the match in the second half to force overtime.

"The end result was obviously very, very disappointing," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "It was a tale of two halves. I thought our first half was outstanding, we started to do things we needed to do. We had possession with the ball, we started moving the ball, working off of each other, changing the point of attack, spreading the field. We probably let ourselves down a little bit, and didn't take opportunities in that first half. We went completely away from our game plan, so I'm really disappointed. We had a halftime speech, and there weren't even any adjustments. We even had a timeout and we failed to execute. I'm pretty disappointed, but I'm sure our team is very disappointed."

The Cardinals jumped on the scoreboard midway through the first half. After a shot by sophomore Bethany Russ was turned back and cleared by Ohio State goalkeeper Ellen Westfall, sophomore Mercedes Pastor retrieved the ball near the sideline and dribble back across the circle and notched her first career goal.

Two minutes later, freshman Erica Cooper gave the Cards a 2-0 lead when she gained control of the ball outside of the 25-yard line and sprinted to the middle of the circle where she delivered a shot past a diving Westfall for her second score of the season.

Louisville took the 2-0 lead into halftime after outshooting Ohio State 7-1 and carrying a 5-1 edge in penalty corners.

The second half brought an increased attack from the Buckeyes who matched the Cardinals with five shots apiece and owned a 3-2 edge in corners. On the second of a pair of back-to-back corners, Courtney Daniels connected on a direct shot with assists from Sammy Stone and Hannah Pany to cut the lead in half at the 43:12 minute in the game.

The Cardinals held the 2-1 lead for the next 24 minutes before the Buckeyes evened the score. With 5:15 on the clock, the Buckeyes lifted goalkeeper Aaliyah Hernandez for an extra field player as Ohio State continued to press. The move paid off with a goal from Sammy Stone who deflected a shot by Clotet to tie the game at 2-2 with 2:16 left in regulation.

Neither team was able to get a shot off in the final minutes of the half and the game entered a 10-minute 7v7 sudden victory overtime period.

Just 1:29 into the overtime period, Clotet connected on a cross from Kelsey Nolan for the game-winning goal.

In the contest, Louisville outshot Ohio State 12-7 and held a 7-4 advantage in corners. Senior Ayeisha McFerran collected two saves while Westfall and Hernandez had a pair of stops apiece.

Louisville returns to action next weekend when they take UMass-Lowell in a neutral site game at Richmond on Sept. 1 and travel to No. 9 Delaware for a Labor Day matchup on Sept. 3.