No. 6 Cardinals Shut Out No. 12 Syracuse 1-0 in ACC Quarterfinals

Thursday, November 7

Newton, MA

12:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

(15-4, 3-3ACC)

Syracuse

(12-6, 3-3ACC)

Louisville

Syracuse

No. 6 Cardinals Shut Out No. 12 Syracuse 1-0 in ACC Quarterfinals

November 07, 2019 | Field Hockey

Box Score Louisville 1 - Syracuse 0 Justine Sowry Postgame Interview

Cards move on to face No. 1 North Carolina in the semifinals Friday at 1 p.m.

By: Lori Harmon

NEWTON, Mass. - Mercedes Pastor's goal in the first quarter stood as the game-winner as the sixth-ranked University of Louisville defeated No. 12 Syracuse 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship Thursday afternoon at the Boston College Field Hockey Complex.

With the win, Louisville (15-4) advances to the semifinals to take on top-ranked North Carolina Friday at 1 p.m. Syracuse drops to 12-6 on the season.

The Cardinals outshot the Orange 13-3 and held a 5-1 edge in penalty corners as they avenged last week's 2-1 overtime loss in both teams' regular season finale. Louisville goalkeeper Hollyn Barr collected one save in the Cards' eighth shutout of the season.

"Obviously very happy with the result," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "We had to do certain things that we didn't do last week against them. They're a very good team and they put a lot of pressure on you and they're lethal with their transitions especially their counter-attack… It wasn't pretty, but we absorbed a lot of pressure to be able to get the result that we needed today."

Pastor's goal came in the ninth minute of the game when the junior midfielder - and all-ACC first team selection - connected on a pass from senior Whena Munn and sent her ninth goal of the season past Syracuse goalkeeper Sarah Sinck.

Louisville took the 1-0 lead into halftime after outshooting Syracuse 4-1 with each team earning one penalty corner.

The Cards continued to attack after the break, gaining a 7-0 advantage in shots and holding a 3-0 edge in penalty corners.

In the fourth quarter, a yellow card issued to senior Bethany Russ forced Louisville to compete with 10 players on the field for five minutes, but the Cards maintained their composure, quickly earning a penalty corner, but Sinck stopped junior Meghan Schneider's shot on goal. UofL withstood the disadvantage, allowing only one shot, but it was turned away by Barr to keep the Orange off of the scoreboard.

Syracuse had a final scoring opportunity in the final three minutes of the contest, but Charlotte DeVries' shot attempted was thwarted by the Louisville defense.

"We had to work harder with the ball and we had to anticipate a turnover be right there to win the ball back immediately," said Sowry. "Defensively we had to just contain them and stay in the contest and try to keep their best players from being involved so much and I thought we did an outstanding job there. They did get a couple of breakaway opportunities, but our deep defense handled it very well. I was very proud and pleased with our group that we were able to make those adjustments from last week."

NOTES:

Louisville advances to the ACC semifinals for the second time in three years – and in program history. The last time the Cardinals reached the semifinals was in 2017 when they defeated Syracuse 3-2 in the quarterfinals and went on to beat Duke 3-2 in a shootout. The Cardinals fell 1-0 to North Carolina in the finals at Trager Stadium.
Syracuse owns an 11-7 lead in the series.
Mercedes Pastor moves into a tie for the team lead in goals with Bethany Russ.
Louisville extends its win total to 15, the most since the 2014 season.