No.3 Virginia Outlasts Louisville 2-0

Friday, October 24

LOUISVILLE, KY

3:00 PM

University of Louisville

(7-8, 1-5)

Virginia

(12-1, 6-1)

Virginia

Louisville

October 24, 2025 | Field Hockey

Box Score

Third-ranked Virginia scored a pair of first half goals and held off a late attack by Louisville

By: Ben Teitel

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville field hockey team lost 2-0 to No. 3 ranked Virginia in an Atlantic Coast Conference battle Friday afternoon at Trager Stadium.

In the game, Virginia held a 7-6 edge in shots on goal, while Louisville earned six penalty corners to the Cavaliers' one. Virginia goalkeeper Nihlou Lempers recorded six saves while Louisville's Emily Young notched five stops of her own.

"Virginia is a quality opponent," UofL coach Justine Sowry "They're very difficult to score against and a very good scoring team. We always knew it was going to be a tough game and it was very unfortunate that we let two early goals in. When you look at it statistically, we did absolutely have opportunities to score, we had six corners, and they made a couple of good saves. We have to be better, that's just a critical area of the game where we need to not only have those opportunities but also finish those opportunities and be able to execute"

Virginia (12-1, 6-1 ACC) struck first early in the opening quarter, scoring off a rebound that gave freshman Mary Adams her second goal of the season. The Cavaliers offense bombarded Louisville in the opening frame with three shots, two of them on goal.

The rest of the quarter saw the Virginia defense turning away any opportunity present for Louisville to make something happen as the Cavaliers, who lead the nation in goals against average (0.49) kept the Cards at bay.

Virginia scored again early in the second quarter, with a circle entry by Suze Leemans that saw Amelie Rees put one in the cage. A little bit deeper into the second the Cavaliers were granted a corner, but Young held strong to keep the score at 2-0.

Louisville (7-8, 1-5 ACC) finally struck an offensive spark with just a few minutes left in the half, where they had a corner that was stifled by Lempers to extinguish the Cardinals' offensive chances.

Virginia entered the locker room with a 2-0 lead after holding a 4-2 shots on goal advantage. The teams were even 1-1 in penalty corners.

Louisville gained some traction with about five minutes left with back-to-back corner attempts, but once again Lempers and the Virginia corner defense stood strong and did not let up a goal to the Cardinals.

Emily Young held off another Virginia attempt with a save of her own later in the quarter.

Louisville got another corner opportunity early in the fourth quarter, and Lempers recorded another stop for Virginia. The Cards would then go on to draw two more penalty corners, but the Virginia defense held firm for the 2-0 win.

"There were some good things and some not-so-good things in today's game, so it's back to the drawing board," said Sowry "Now our attention goes to Boston College, as we are fighting for a spot in the ACC tournament."

Louisville will travel to Boston College on Sunday, Oct. 26 for a pivotal late season conference matchup.