No. 5 Louisville Shuts Out No. 16 Stanford 3-0

Tuesday, October 15

LOUISVILLE, KY

12:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

(11-2)

STANFORD

(9-6)

Stanford

LOU

Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

October 15, 2019 | Field Hockey

Box Score Louisville 3 - Stanford 0 Justine Sowry Interview Photo Gallery

Russ registers a goal and an assist as the Cards notch their sixth shutout of the season

By: Lori Harmon

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The fifth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team got goals from three different players en route to its sixth shutout of the season in a 3-0 win against No. 16 Stanford (9-5) Tuesday afternoon at Trager Stadium.

Louisville (11-2) will wrap up a six-game home stand this weekend when the Cards play host to Longwood Saturday at 12 p.m. and No. 6 Iowa Sunday at 1 p.m.

Senior Bethany Russ registered a goal and an assist while junior Mercedes Pastor and sophomore Erica Cooper also tallied goals for the Cards who have now outscored opponents 34-13. UofL controlled the ball for the majority of the game, outshooting Stanford 19-4 with a 15-2 advantage in shots on goal and nine corners to the Cardinal's one. Louisville goalkeeper Hollyn Barr had a pair of saves in the shutout while Stanford's Kelsey Bing collected 12 stops.

The Cards got on the scoreboard in the seventh minute of the contest after earning three-straight penalty corners. They converted on their third try when Russ powered a shot toward the cage and Cooper was there to deflect it into the cage for her second goal of the season.

After owning a 4-0 edge in first-quarter shots, Louisville carried the momentum into the second quarter, outshooting Stanford 8-0. The Cards struck again in the fifth minute of the second frame when Pastor evaded three defenders as she carried the ball to the right side of the circle and rifled a reverse stick shot into the cage to put UofL up 2-0. With the goal, Pastor increases career-best total to seven on the season.

Louisville took the lead into halftime with a 12-0 advantage in shots and a 7-1 lead in corners.

After the break, the teams played evenly in the third quarter with three shots apiece and Louisville owing a 1-0 edge in corners.

Midway through the fourth quarter, UofL capped the scoring with Russ's team-best ninth goal of the season. The senior forward collected the rebound from her own shot near the top of the circle and dodged a pair of defenders as she moved to the left side of the cage before firing off a reverse-stick shot into the far corner to push Louisville's lead to 3-0.

"Today we played some pretty good hockey," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "I think Stanford is a little bit tired as they had two games over the weekend. We did what we needed to do. We played Louisville hockey in terms of passing the ball. Without the ball, I thought our press was very good and we defended some of their key players, which was fantastic. Going into that last quarter, or even the second half, there was a little déjà vu (in regards to Friday's loss to Virginia), because we had that great first half and we were 2-0 up and there are not many times where you have another opportunity to have a redo. We had that opportunity today and I think we finished the game strong with a solid victory."