Louisville Defeats Boston College 3-2 in ACC Quarterfinals

Tuesday, October 31

Charlottesville, VA

6:00 PM

University of Louisville

(14-5)

Boston College

(11-7)

Boston College

Louisville

Louisville Defeats Boston College 3-2 in ACC Quarterfinals

October 31, 2023 | Field Hockey

Box Score

Wollerton delivers a pair of goals and an assist, van der Vegt posts 10 saves to help the Cards advance to the semifinals

By: Lori Harmon

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Rylie Wollerton delivered two goals and an assist while Merlijn van der Vegt posted 10 saves to help the third-seeded University of Louisville field hockey team defeat the No. 6 seed Boston College 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Tuesday evening at Virginia's Turf Field.

With the win, the Cardinals (14-5) advance to the semifinals to face the No. 2 seed Duke Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.

"Obviously in the ACC tournament it's going to be tough no matter who you play and BC brought it today," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "We've been searching for some goals and to get on the board early and so convincingly, that was really exciting. But of course, BC brought it and we had to defend pretty hard. We held on. We can't reflect too much on this game, because of the quick turnaround for Duke tomorrow. We're happy to advance – it's all about surviving and advancing at this point. I'm really happy for this team right now to get another opportunity in the ACC tournament."

In the game, 13^th-ranked Boston College outshot 10^th-ranked Louisville 17-6 with a 12-4 margin in shots on goal as van der Vegt recorded a season-high 10 stops. BC also held a 7-2 edge in penalty corners including four in the fourth quarter. With her first career multi-goal game, Wollerton moves into a tie for the team lead with five goals this season.

The Eagles (11-7) struck first with a penalty corner goal from Simone Hefting to give BC a 1-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Louisville countered two minutes later when Mia Duchars received a breakaway pass and directed a feed to Wollerton who rifled a shot into the left corner of the cage to even the score at 1-1.

The Eagles opened the second quarter with an early attack which saw van der Vegt turn back a shot on goal. The Cardinals' defense then broke up a BC penalty corner that resulted in a clear by Duchars to Lauren Masters who sent a long pass to the circle where Wollerton sent a diving shot into the cage for her second goal of the game.

The Cardinals took the 2-1 lead into the break despite Boston College owning a 7-4 advantage in shots and a 3-2 edge in corners.

Louisville tacked on another goal in the opening minutes of the third quarter, this time it was Wollerton with the assist after she maneuvered into the circle and past a defender before connecting with Tyler Everslage to give the Cards a 3-1 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the frame.

BC continued to push forward in the closing minutes of the quarter delivering three shots with van der Vegt collecting a pair of stops to send the Cardinals to the fourth quarter with a 3-1 lead.

The fourth quarter brought an intensified attack from the Eagles who lifted goalkeeper Caroline Kelly in favor of an extra field player with 8:41 left to play. The move proved to be fruitful as Peyton Hale converted a penalty corner goal with 2:01 remaining in the frame. BC continued delivered a flurry of shots in the fourth quarter with van der Vegt posting four saves to get the win.

The Cardinals will return to action on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. when they take on third-ranked Duke who defeated Wake Forest 2-0 in their quarterfinal matchup.

NOTES:

Tuesday's game marked the second meeting between the two teams in four days. They last faced each other on Friday with Louisville prevailing 2-1 in double overtime.
Louisville advances to the semifinals for the first time since 2021.
The last – and only - time Louisville and Duke met in the ACC Championship was on Nov. 3, 2017, resulting in a 3-2 shootout win for Louisville at Trager Stadium