Louisville Falls Short Against No. 1 Northwestern in Overtime

Friday, September 12

LOUISVILLE, KY

6:00 PM

University of Louisville

(3-2)

Northwestern

(5-0)

Northwestern

Louisville

Louisville Falls Short Against No. 1 Northwestern in Overtime

September 12, 2025 | Field Hockey

Box Score Justine Sowry Postgame Interview

Louisville goalkeeper Emily Young matched a career high with nine saves while Gigi Edwards scored for the Cards, marking the first goal Northwestern has allowed this season

By: Lori Harmon

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville field hockey team battled against top-ranked Northwestern, but ultimately fell 2-1 in overtime Friday evening at Trager Stadium. The Wildcats improve to 4-0 on the season while Louisville drops to 3-2.

"It was an amazing game, I'm sure for spectators it was pretty exciting," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "I thought we put together a pretty good game plan. Clearly Northwestern is the No. 1 team in the country, they're well-coached and they're loaded with talent. We were going to really have to come together both with the ball and without the ball and we did that. We had a lot of fight. I cannot complain about the effort and the energy that we put out on the pitch."

Sophomore Gigi Edwards delivered her third goal of the season to give the Cards an early lead while Louisville sophomore goalkeeper matched a career high with nine saves in the game to keep the Wildcats at bay through 57 minutes in the contest before Northwestern was able to get on the scoreboard.

After the teams played through a scoreless opening quarter, the Cards struck in the fourth minute of the second frame when she connected on a rebound off of her own shot and sent the ball into the cage, marking the first goal given up by the Wildcats in the 2025 season.

The teams entered halftime with Louisville leading 1-0 despite Northwestern holding a 10-6 advantage in shots and a 4-1 edge in penalty corners.

Louisville held on to the lead until late in the fourth quarter. After the Wildcats lifted goalkeeper Julian Boon in favor of an extra field player, the move paid off when Piper Borz connected on a feed from Aerin Krys with 2:33 remaining in regulation to even the score.

With the game still knotted at 1-1 at the end of the fourth quarter, the game moved to a 10-minute sudden-victory 7v7 overtime period. In the third minute of extra time, Northwestern's Grace Schulze's unassisted goal secured the 2-1 win for the Wildcats.

In the game, the Cardinals delivered eight shots, three of which landed on target and withstood 19 Northwestern shots, 11 of them on goal. The Wildcats held a 7-3 advantage in corners in the game.

"It was a great defensive effort," said Sowry. "I think Emily Young played well, especially early on, our defensive unit was amazing including our penalty corner defensive unit. We're playing quicker and that what we want to do, if you play quick, you have opportunities. To be able to put one on the board and have several other opportunities against this team, I'm a proud coach right now. I'm disappointed for our team in the result, but they can walk off the field and hold their heads high."

Louisville will return to action on Sunday when they take on No. 15 Iowa at 1:30 p.m.