No. 5 Cards Fall Short Against No. 9 Virginia 2-1

Friday, October 11

LOUISVILLE, KY

5:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

(10-2, 2-2)

VIRGINIA

(10-3, 2-2)

Virginia

LOU

October 11, 2019 | Field Hockey

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Pastor's goal gives Louisville a 1-0 lead, but a pair of fourth-quarter goals give UVA a 2-1 win

By: Lori Harmon

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The fifth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey took an early 1-0 lead, but a pair of fourth-quarter goals lifted No. 9 Virginia to a 2-1 win over the Cardinals in a rain-soaked battle of top-10 ACC opponents Friday evening at Trager Stadium. The loss snaps a four-game win streak for the Cardinals (10-2, 2-2 ACC).

The teams played through 14 scoreless minutes before the Cardinals broke through with a penalty corner goal by Mercedes Pastor. The junior connected on her sixth goal of the season with 12 seconds remaining in the first quarter with assists from fellow juniors Alli Bitting and Meghan Schneider.

In the second quarter, the Cards appeared to take a 2-0 lead on a penalty corner goal by Bitting. The goal was disallowed on the field due to an obstruction call against Louisville and the call was upheld after an official review.

UofL held on to the lead through the second quarter and entered halftime up 1-0 after owning a 4-3 edge in shots and a 4-3 advantage in corners.

After the break, Louisville opened the third quarter with a shot on goal by senior Bethany Russ, but after that, Virginia (10-3, 2-2) gained momentum, edging the Cards in third-quarter shots (3-2) and corners (1-0).

The Cavaliers kept the momentum entering the final quarter of play, earning a penalty corner in the opening minute and were subsequently awarded a penalty stroke. Redshirt freshman Sam Minrath entered the game turned back the stroke attempt by Virginia's Erin Shanahan to keep the score at 1-0.

UVA persisted and, four minutes later, evened the score at 1-1 after Laura Janssen connected on a cross from Annie McDonough.

The contest remained tied under five minutes remained in regulation when Virginia's Makayla Gallen sent a rebound off of Louisville goalkeeper Hollyn Barr's pads into the cage to put the Cavaliers up 2-1 with 4:44 left to play.

The Cards pushed forward in the closing minutes of the contest, but Pastor's shot on goal was stopped by Virginia keeper Lauren Hausheer, who finished the game with three saves.

Barr (10-2) collected four saves for the Cardinals.

"In the first half we played some really good Louisville field hockey," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "I am very pleased and we did exactly what we wanted to do. They started gaining some momentum and that what is what we were expecting based on how they play. At halftime we absolutely addressed that they were going to come out hard and they did and we didn't do our jobs. It was really disappointing. We stopped working for each other, we were ball-watching. I saw a frustration creep in that I have not seen before... I give a lot of credit to Virginia, they are a talented team, but I really felt like weren't trying to win. We were playing not to lose and we cannot do that against a team like UVA."

The Cardinals will return to action on Tuesday when they play host to No. 16 Stanford in a 12 p.m. matchup at Trager Stadium.

"We want be very evaluative about today's performance collectively and address some of the things that were very uncharacteristic," said Sowry. "But it's 24 hours and then we set our sights on Stanford and for that game it is a tough regional matchup for us and we need to rebound very well on an unusual day and time. There are lessons to be learned and hopefully we can do that really quickly and come out strong on Tuesday."