Cardinals Take Down Two-Time Defending National Champion North Carolina

Friday, October 2

LOUISVILLE, KY

4:30 PM

University of Louisville

(3-0, 2-0,ACC)

NORTH CAROLINA

(1-1, 1-1ACC)

North Carolina

Louisville

Cardinals Take Down Two-Time Defending National Champion North Carolina

October 02, 2020 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: Tyler Nunez

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Cardinals earned a statement win Friday afternoon as they took down two-time defending national champion North Carolina 3-1 at Trager Stadium, ending the Tar Heels' 47-game win streak.

Louisville (3-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) ended the defending national champion Tar Heels' (1-1, 1-1) bid for a third consecutive perfect season thanks to an aggressive
offensive outing that led to a pair of goals by Margot Lawn and one by Mercedes Pastor.

"It's certainly nice to be that team that beat such a terrific team and legendary coach. I'm really proud," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "We played well and it wasn't a fluke, besides a little bit in the third quarter where we started to play not to lose more so than to win. Other than that, we played great and had great opportunities on both sides of the ball. Our defense played outstanding, but we also took our opportunity. I could not be happier and it's fantastic."

UNC's loss marked its first since Nov. 17, 2017 (also at Trager Stadium) when the Tar Heels fell to Connecticut 2-1 in penalty shots in the NCAA Semifinals. It marks the program's first conference loss since Duke beat UNC 3-2 on Oct. 20, 2017. By game's end, Louisville had outshot the Tar Heels 12-7 in total shots and 10-4 in shots on goal. Louisville controlled the tempo with an aggressive offensive scheme, and Sowry said they had even more opportunities than the final stat sheet indicated.

"As I look at the statistics, we had 12 recorded opportunities but there were a lot that went across the face of the goal, as well, that we couldn't quite get our sticks on, or it hit our feet, or it deflected up," Sowry said. "We for sure had some wonderful opportunities. I think everybody contributed and not just on the attack, but on defense as well. It's great that these guys are scoring the goals, but equally defensively. It's from the forwards all the way to the goalkeeper. Everyone contributes and I think that everyone did that today."

The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead with just under three minutes left in the first quarter. After earning the first corner of the game, senior Alli Bitting inserted the ball and fellow senior Meghan Schneider provided the stop for Pastor blasted her team-best third goal of the season.

They extended that lead with 40 seconds left to play in the second quarter when Pastor zipped a ball near the end line from the left side of the circle and Lawn deflected it past North Carolina goalkeeper Amanda Hendry.

UofL took that 2-0 lead into halftime thanks in large part to the Tar Heels only recording two shots, both saved by goalkeeper Hollyn Barr in the half, compared to the Cardinal's six, all on goal.

The Tar Heels (1-1, 1-1 ACC) cut their deficit in half early in the third quarter when Erin Matson sent a reverse-stick shot into the upper left corner of the cage just six minutes into
the frame. Louisville kept the offensive pressure in high gear, limiting UNC's opportunities to score.

With with 7:10 remaining in the game North Carolina lifted Hendry in favor of another field player. The Tar Heels pushed the ball to their offensive circle and were able to register one shot during that timeframe, but could not capitalize.

With six seconds left in the contest, freshman Aimee Plumb sent a long pass to Lawn who sent the ball into the empty cage to seal the 3-1 win.

Louisville will look to carry the momentum against Boston College at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the Cardinals' final home game of the season.