No. 13 Cards Fall Short to No. 12 Boston College 1-0

Saturday, September 28

LOUISVILLE, KY

9:30 AM

University of Louisville

Boston College

Photo by: Adam Mouchrani | Louisville Athletics

September 28, 2024 | Field Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

Boston College strikes early, holds off a late Louisville charge

By: Lori Harmon

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 13^th ranked University of Louisville field hockey fell 1-0 to No. 12 Boston College in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup Saturday morning at Trager Stadium.

"This was your typical ACC battle," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "It can ebb and flow and momentum shifts often. The first half, Boston College was the better team, we didn't necessarily press they way we wanted to- we had some missed assignments and gave them a lot of space through the middle of the pitch which, in turn put our defense under pressure. In the second half, we corrected those gaps and then momentum shifted in our favor."

Originally slated to be played Friday evening, the contest was postponed until Saturday due to inclement weather in the area.

Boston College got on the scoreboard midway through the first quarter with a goal by Mia Garber and it proved to be the only goal in the game as the Eagles held off a late offensive surge by Louisville to improve to 7-2 (2-0 ACC) while the Cardinals drop to 5-4 (1-1). Louisville will have a quick turnaround as they hit the road for a Sunday matchup at No. 4 Ohio State.

While playing in a steady rain throughout the game, the teams were evenly-matched. The Eagles outshot the Cardinals 12-9 with each team landing four shots on goal and earning four penalty corners apiece. Louisville goalkeeper Brandelynn Heinbaugh collected three saves while BC's Charlotte Kramer had four stops.

Boston College opened the game with an early press and broke through in the ninth minute of play when Garber delivered a reverse stick shot to the far post to put her team on the scoreboard.

The Eagles took the 1-0 lead into halftime after holding a 7-4 advantage in shots and a 3-2 edge in corners.

Louisville regrouped during the break, and began to intensify its attack, earning a penalty corner in the opening minutes of the third quarter, but BC's Kramer came up with a pair of saves to hold the Cardinals at bay.

With 3:31 left in the game, Heinbaugh was lifted in favor of an extra field player. After a defensive stand, Rylie Wollerton intercepted the ball and delivered a quick shot from the top of the circle which was denied by Kramer. The Cardinals were awarded a corner with 54 seconds left to play, but the Eagles' defense withstood a shot by Izzy Bianco and a flurry of activity in front of the cage to emerge with the win.

"I'm really proud of the adjustments that we made in the second half and the pressure that we started to put Boston College under, especially in the fourth quarter," said Sowry. "We were attacking well, we got into the circle numerous times and we certainly had those opportunities to tie the game up. Overall disappointed in the result, but also a lot of positive lessons to take from it. We're moving on right away and we want to bounce forward and take some of those lessons to Ohio State tomorrow."