Cards Fall 2-1 at Syracuse in Regular Season Finale

Friday, October 30

Syracuse, NY

2 PM

University of Louisville

(7-1, 5-1ACC)

Syracuse

(4-3, 3-2ACC)

Louisville

Syracuse

Photo by: Adam Creech | Louisville Athletics

October 30, 2020 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: Lori Harmon

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The University of Louisville field hockey team's bid for an undefeated season came to an end on Friday when the Cardinals fell 2-1 at Syracuse in their regular season finale at J.S. Coyne Field.

Louisville (7-1, 5-1 ACC) has clinched the No. 1 seed in the 2020 ACC Championship which will take place November 5, 6 and 8 at the University of North Carolina.

"We did not play our best today and went away from how we play," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "We were tentative and hesitant with our press and were unable to problem solve on the fly. Give credit to Syracuse who was able to prevent us from playing our game. This is a great opportunity to learn some valuable lessons heading into the ACC tournament."

After the teams played through a scoreless first half, Syracuse (4-3, 3-2) broke through with a goal in the sixth minute of the third quarter when Charlotte de Vries connected on a penalty corner rebound to put the Orange on the scoreboard.

In the fourth quarter, a penalty stroke converted by Laura Graziosi extended the Syracuse lead to 2-0 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game.

The Cardinals continued to attack, outshooting the Orange 5-1 with a 2-0 penalty corner advantage in the fourth quarter before Meghan Schneider set up freshman Aimee Plumb for her second score of the season to make the score 2-1 with 2:55 left to play.

Louisville held on the momentum and had another scoring opportunity with under two minutes left, when senior Mercedes Pastor's shot found Syracuse goalkeeper Syd Taylor out of position, Eefke van den Nieuwenhof was there to pick up a defensive save to hold the Cardinals at bay.

In the game, UofL held an edge in shots (10-9, shots on goal (6-5) and owned a 4-3 advantage in penalty corners.