Cards Fall 4-1 at No. 1 North Carolina in ACC Opener

Friday, September 20

Chapel Hill, NC

5:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

(6-1, 0-1ACC)

North Carolina

(6-0, 1-0ACC)

Louisville

North Carolina

Photo by: Jeffrey Camarati

September 20, 2019 | Field Hockey

Box Score North Carolina 4 - Louisville 1 (PDF)

Cards snap six-game win streak

By: Lori Harmon

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The seventh-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team fell 4-1 to top-ranked, defending national champion, North Carolina in its ACC opener Friday evening at UNC's Karen Shelton Stadium.

"North Carolina is a phenomenal attacking team," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "You have to defend well and limit the turnovers in critical areas on the field and tonight we had some lapses that were costly. However, we also played some great hockey and can take a lot of positives from our game."

The Cardinals (6-1, 0-1 ACC) fell behind early, but got a late goal from junior Alli Bitting as they suffered their first loss of the 2019 season. In the game, the teams tallied eight shots on goal apiece with Louisville holding a 9-8 advantage in penalty corners. Louisville's Hollyn Barr and Sam Minrath teamed for four saves while North Carolina goalkeepers Amanda Hendry and Alex Halpin combined for seven stops in the contest.

Louisville went on the attack early on, drawing a pair of back-to-back corners in the first six minutes of play but North Carolina took a 1-0 lead midway through the first quarter when Riley Fulmer registered an unassisted goal.

The Tar Heels (6-0, 1-0 ACC) had another scoring opportunity in the second quarter when they were awarded a penalty stroke, but redshirt freshman Sam Minrath came up strong with a save on the attempt. Less than a minute later, UNC earned a penalty corner and capitalized on the opportunity with a goal from Erin Matson.

UNC tacked on another goal after earning back-to-back corners in the final 30 seconds of the first half. With 25 second remaining in the frame Matson tallied her second goal of the game add to the Heels' lead.

The Cards entered the break trailing 3-0 despite matching North Carolina in shots (7-7) and corners (4-4). Minrath and redshirt junior Hollyn Barr each had a save while Amanda Hendry had three stops for the Tar Heels.

North Carolina wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the second half with a penalty corner goal from Eva Smolenaars in the third minute of the period which brought the lead to 4-0.

The Cardinals pushed through in the fourth quarter, outshooting the Tar Heels 6-3 and owning a 3-1 advantage in corners – all earned in the final two minutes of play.

With just under two minutes left on the clock, Bitting deflected a shot by Russ to put the Cards in the scoreboard. Her first goal of the season made the score 4-1.

Louisville continued the momentum, quickly earning two more corners in the waning seconds of the game, but shots by Russ, Mercedes Pastor and Taylor Orsi were blocked or saved by UNC's Halpin.

"I am super proud of the effort and fight that we displayed throughout the game," said Sowry. "We must continue to work hard, play for each other and stay disciplined playing our hockey especially when things get tougher."

The Cardinals will continue ACC play next weekend when they travel to Boston College.