No. 5 Cards Fall 2-1 to No. 7 Boston College in Sudden-Victory Shootout in NCAA Quarterfinals

Sunday, November 17

LOUISVILLE, KY

1:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

(16-6)

BOSTON COLLEGE

(15-7)

Boston College

Louisville

No. 5 Cards Fall 2-1 to No. 7 Boston College in Sudden-Victory Shootout in NCAA Quarterfinals

November 17, 2019 | Field Hockey

Box Score BC 2 UL 1 SV Shootout Photo Gallery Justine Sowry Interview Photo Gallery

Louisville's history-making season ends in heartbreaking fashion

By: Nancy Worley

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The No. 5 University of Louisville field hockey team fell 2-1 in double overtime to No. 7 Boston College in a quarterfinal NCAA match Sunday afternoon at Trager Stadium.

BC's Margo Carlin had the winning goal in the second round of sudden victory shootout to push the Eagles (15-7) into the NCAA semifinals next weekend in Winston-Salem, N.C.

In the game, Louisville (16-6) outshot the Eagles 20-9 with nine Cardinal shots on goal to BC's three. BC goalkeeper Sarah Dwyer notched seven saves in the contest while Louisville's Hollyn Barr collected two stops.

"I'm not sure if words really can express accurately sudden-death shootout," said Justine Sowry, UofL head coach. "You come that close to a final four it's no doubt heartbreaking. When I take a moment to breathe, I am just so incredibly proud of our team. They played one heck of a game. They did everything that we asked them to do. Barring the second quarter, I think we played really nice field hockey. Great Louisville field hockey. We defended well, we attacked well. We had our opportunities, no doubt about it. We had our opportunities to put the game away but it's sport."

Boston College scored first when Elizabeth Warner connected on a redirected penalty corner shot with just six seconds left in the second quarter. The goal was Warner's fifth of the season with the assist coming from Sky Caron.

BC took the 1-0 lead into halftime after outshooting Louisville 6-5 in the first half and holding a 4-3 edge in corners.

The Cardinals regrouped during the break and answered at the 34:47 mark in the third quarter when senior Bethany Russ delivered a reverse-stick shot from the top of the circle for her 13th goal of the season.

Louisville outshot Boston College 7-0 in the second half and owned a 4-0 advantage in corners, but the game remained knotted at 1-1 through the end of regulation.

The teams entered a set of two 7v7 sudden-victory overtime periods in which Louisville held advantages in shots (8-3) and corners (3-0), but could not break through.

With the score still even at 1-1, the game moved to a best-of-five shootout which saw each team connecting on three tries apiece, sending the contest into a sudden-victory shootout. The Eagles prevailed on their second attempt when Carlin sent a shot into the cage.

Boston College advances to the semifinals to face No. 1 North Carolina. The winner of that match will advance to play the winner of Princeton versus Virginia semifinal.

"What a team that I've been able to coach this year," said Sowry. "They are just a very different team, so collaborative with shared leadership. We've worked together, we win together, we lose together. It's just an unbelievable group of young women. I'm just so terribly proud of them right now. My heart goes out to them. My heart goes out to the seniors who really have been a big part to the success of this season as well. I'm pretty heartbroken right now."

The Cardinals end their history-making season at 16-6, tying a program record for wins and making their first foray into the NCAA quarterfinals after defeating Michigan 2-1 in double-overtime Friday's first-round matchup. Louisville was the overall No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and served as a host site for the first time in program history.

Russ finishes her career tied for seventh on Louisville's all-time list for goals (26). The two-time All-ACC selection is also ninth among UofL's single-season goal scorers (13).

"We'll be doing a lot of reflecting. The win on Friday, that was a great thing to finally win that first round," said Sowry. "We were definitely good enough to go further and certainly competitive in the final four as well. Right now, just extreme disappointment for the program but also very proud of our team."