Cards Defeat Duke 3-1

Sunday, September 27

LOUISVILLE, KY

1:30 PM

University of Louisville

(2-0)

DUKE

(0-2)

DUKE

LOU

September 27, 2020 | Field Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Lori Harmon

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville field hockey team used goals from three different players en route to a 3-1 win over visiting Duke Sunday afternoon at Trager Stadium.

Junior Erica Cooper and sophomores Katie Schneider and Emilia Kaczmarczyk each recorded their first goals of the season while senior goalkeeper Hollyn Barr collected three saves to help Louisville improve to 2-0.

The teams were locked in a defensive battle with few scoring chances throughout the first two quarters before the Cardinals broke through with a goal from Cooper with 38 seconds left to play in the first half. Senior Mercedes Pastor blasted a shot from the right side of the circle and Cooper was there to redirect the ball into the cage to give Louisville a 1-0 lead.

The Cardinals' lead was short-lived as Blue Devils (0-2, 0-1 ACC) quickly answered on their next possession when Noor van de Laar connected on a feed from Hannah Miller to even the score with 19 seconds remaining in the half.

The teams entered halftime tied at 1-1 with Duke holding a 5-4 edge in shots while both teams had one penalty corner.

The third quarter began with a penalty corner a awarded to Duke in the first two minutes, resulting in a pair of saves by Barr to keep the Blue Devils at bay.

Louisville intensified its attack, earning a corner in the fourth minute of the third quarter. After her initial shot was turned back by Duke goalkeeper Piper Hampsch, Katie Schneider gathered the rebound and sent another shot into the cage to put the Cardinals back on top 2-1.

Four minutes later, UofL capitalized on another corner to add an insurance goal Senior Alli Bitting inserted the ball and senior Meghan Schneider provided the stop and distributed the ball to Kaczmarczyk who sent a reverse stick shot into the right side of the cage to make the score 3-1.

In the game, Louisville outshot the Blue Devils 16-10 and held a 9-2 advantage in corners. Barr had three saves while Hampsch had six stops for Duke.

The Cardinals (2-0, 1-0 ACC) will face two-time defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels on Friday, Oct. 2 at Trager Stadium.

Justine Sowry on Sunday's 3-1 win against Duke
"I am pretty disappointed with the overall quality of the game from our standpoint and two factors were involved. We knew that Duke would come out so much better. We've all been practicing against ourselves and they're a really good team and they're well-coached," said Sowry. "They were going to be better, but also playing back to back games or even if it was a just a second game on a weekend in general with a day off in between. We know it's going to be harder physically, mentally, emotionally, so it was a combination, but Duke was just a much better team today. I thought that they played very well and defended well, but then they had some great periods of attack. For us, we had a terrible first half, but we did make some adjustments in the second half, I think our play got better and maybe Duke got a little more fatigued, but fortunately we were able to capitalize on those opportunities and to have two ACC wins on a weekend, I certainly cannot complain."

On upcoming opponent North Carolina
"We have to review today's game. There is no point in reviewing yesterday's game because this is the type of game that we have to learn from in order to get better. Carolina hasn't lost in over two years, but this team has an opportunity for sure. We need to watch the game film and make adjustments. The message that we preached to our team after the game today was to review the film, take care of your bodies, and come to practice focused because you have an opportunity to beat the number one team in the country. They are a good team, but we have nothing to lose at this point, so we are going to give it our all next Friday."