Cardinals Drop Home Finale to No. 11 Duke 3-0

Friday, October 18

LOUISVILLE, KY

3:00 PM

University of Louisville

(5-10, 1-6ACC)

Duke

(9-4, 5-1ACC)

Duke

LOU

October 18, 2024 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: Mila Raque

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The University of Louisville field hockey team dropped its final home game to No. 11 Duke Friday evening at Trager Stadium.

"It was a disappointing performance," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "When you know that you are capable of so much more and not get even close to that on senior day, is disappointing. We weren't on the same page from a defensive point of view. We let key players be wide open. They were winning every 50/50 ball and our fundamentals were off."

Louisville (5-10, 1-6) struggled to find opportunities against the Blue Devils (9-4, 5-1), going scoreless through four quarters as Duke extended its streak of shutouts to five games.

In the contest, the Blue Devils held an advantage over the Cardinals in both shots 16-6 and corners 8-2. Brandelynn Heinbaugh recorded six saves on the afternoon for Louisville while Frederique Wollaert had two stops for Duke.

Following a slow start with first quarter shots by Tyler Everslage and Gigi Edwards, Louisville came out strong in the second with a shot on goal less than one minute in from Chloe Cuzzupe. It would be the Cardinals' only in the second quarter as Duke took charge.

Just a couple of minutes into the quarter, Charlie van Oirschot put the Blue Devils on the board. A few minutes later, the Blue Devils strengthened their lead with a diving shot from Kyle Massey. Duke was awarded three straight corners as time expired,but took the 2-0 lead into halftime.

Neither team was able to generate much offense in the third quarter with Duke logging the lone shot of the frame.

The Cardinals opened the final quarter strong with back-to-back shots from Roosje Neve and Chloe Plumb, who also drew a penalty corner. But Duke continued its scoring burst into the final quarter with another goal, this one by Brynn Crouse off of a penalty corner assist by Macy Szukics.

"In the second half, I thought we came out a little but stronger, but it wasn't Louisville field hockey," said Sowry. "We need to collect ourselves again and come out stronger and play how we are capable when we head to California."

Next up for Louisville is a trip to the West Coast where the Cardinals will take on California Friday at 7 p.m. followed by a matchup at UC Davis for their regular season finale.