No. 3 Louisville Falls Short Against No 15 Duke in Shootout

Saturday, April 10

Durham, NC

1:00 P.M.

University of Louisville

(12-5, 2-3)

Duke

(4-11, 2-3)

Louisville

DUKE

Photo by: Adam Creech | Louisville Athletics

No. 3 Louisville Falls Short Against No 15 Duke in Shootout

April 10, 2021 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: Hollyn Barr and Lori Harmon

The third-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team lost to No. 15 Duke 4-3 in a sudden-victory shootout Saturday afternoon at Duke's Williams Field. The Cardinals (12-5, 2-3 ACC) will return to action Saturday, April 17 when they play host to No. 9 Wake Forest in their final regular season game at Trager Stadium.

The top-15 ACC matchup featured a back and forth battle through 60 minutes of regulation, a pair of 10-minute overtimes and ended in the second round of shootouts. The Cards owned a 20-6 lead in shots with an advantage of 11-4 shots on goal and 6-3 edge in penalty corners.

"Very disappointing to lose that way in the end but I give credit to Duke for putting us under pressure," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "We had some momentary lapses that were costly, and they capitalized on them. We certainly had our opportunities to finish the game and came up short. Watching video of this game will provide a learning opportunity to improve both individually and collectively."

The Cardinals jumped to an early 1-0 lead after drawing a penalty corner when Alli Bitting sent a rebound past Duke goalkeeper Piper Hampsch in the second minute of the game.

Louisville took the 1-0 lead into halftime after holding a 7-1 advantage in shots and a 2-0 edge in corners.

The Blue Devils (4-11, 2-3 ACC) attacked quickly in the opening minute of the third quarter with a goal from Noor van de Laar, tying the score at 1-1.

The Cards countered eight minutes late when India Reed sent a feed to Aimee Plumb who tapped the ball in, putting her team back on top 2-1.

With under two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Duke tied the game again with a penalty corner goal from Libby Thompson. The Blue Devils added another penalty corner goal, this time from Eva Nunnink in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter to take a 3-2 lead.

Louisville answered midway through the fourth quarter when Mercedes Pastor converted a penalty stroke to even the score at 3-3.

When the contest entered a sudden-victory overtime period, the Cards seemed to gain momentum, firing off five shots and earning a corner, but the Duke defense held strong.

In the second overtime, the Cardinals continued to attack, drawing a pair of corners, Duke goalkeeper Piper Hampsch saved a shot from Aimee Plumb with seconds left to send the game to a shootout.

The best-of-five shootout series featured a 4-4 stalemate with made attempts by Mackenzie Karl, Katie Schneider, Charlie van Oirshot and Pastor. The teams moved to a sudden-victory shootout which ended after three tries with a made attempt by Duke's Hannah Miller.