Cards Down River Hawks 2-1

Saturday, September 1

Richmond, VA

12:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

(2-1)

Massachusetts Lowell

(2-1)

UMass Lowell

LOU

Field Hockey's Meghan Schneider looks for a teammate on the outlet

Photo by: Adam Creech | Louisville Athletics

September 01, 2018 | Field Hockey

Box Score Boxscore: Louisville 2 Lowell 1 Justine Sowry Postgame Interview

Goals by Katie and Meghan Schneider lifted the Cards to a 2-1 win over UMass Lowell

By: Lori Korte

RICHMOND, Va. – Goals by sisters Katie and Meghan Schneider lifted the eighth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team to a 2-1 win over UMass Lowell Saturday afternoon at Richmond's Crenshaw's Field. The Cardinals improve to 2-1 on the season while the River Hawks drop to 2-1.

"Give credit to UMass Lowell, they came out prepared and working really hard," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "We made a lot of mental errors today. We were not a disciplined and focused as we should be in things that we needed to control. In the second half, we started to play some really good hockey. I underprepared them in certain areas of the game in terms of some mental mistakes on penalty corners that were incredibly costly for us, so I'll own that, but it makes us go back and do our homework so it does not happen again."

Freshman Katie Schneider connected on her first career goal to break open a scoreless game in the second half. After UMass Lowell delivered the equalizer, sophomore Meghan Schneider notched her first career score to secure the Cardinals' win.

The teams played through a scoreless first half which saw few scoring opportunities as Louisville outshot UMass Lowell 7-1 with three of the Cardinals' shots and one River Hawk attempt landing on goal. Louisville also held a 5-0 advantage in penalty corners – including one awarded in the closing seconds of the frame.

The Cards broke though quickly after the break. In the opening minute of the half, freshman Mackenzie Karl worked the ball down to the circle and sent a cross to Katie Walsh who was waiting on the left side of the cage.

Louisville held the lead through the next 12 minutes of play and had a chance to add to the score with a penalty corner midway through the half, but the River Hawks'
defense thwarted the opportunity and countered with a corner of their own which resulted in a goal by Clara Defourt which evened the score at 1-1.

The Cardinals answered five minutes later, this time converting on their second corner of the half. Junior Carter Ayars got the play started and senior Katie Walsh provided the stop for Meghan Schneider, who launched a shot past River Hawk goalkeeper Eva Berkhout to put Louisville on top 2-1 with under eight minutes left to play.

"What we realized is that, to play Louisville field hockey, we've got to be working hard for each other off the ball, 360-degree support and with everyone's voice going and letting everyone know where they are on the pitch," said Sowry. "When we do that, we play great hockey and if we can just tidy up some of these little mental mistakes and also I need to prepare better. We have to move forward in the right direction."

In the game Louisville held a 12-5 advantage in shots - including a 5-4 edge in the second half – and had seven corners to UMass Lowell's three. Senior Ayeisha McFerran collected two while Berkhout had four stops for the River Hawks.

UofL will continue its road swing with a contest at No. 9 Delaware Monday at 1 p.m.

"Tough conditions today, but it is what it is, we've got to control what we can control," said Sowry. "Very thankful that we got out of it with a win, but we need to get back to business if we're going to put a good performance together against Delaware."