Louisville Falls to Drexel 1-0

Saturday, September 6

Bloomington, IN

11:00 AM

University of Louisville

(2-1)

Drexel

(2-2)

Drexel

Louisville

Photo by: Paige Kuwata | Louisville Athletics

September 06, 2025 | Field Hockey

Box Score

Cards suffer first loss of the season

By: Lori Harmon

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The University of Louisville field hockey team fell 1-0 to Drexel Saturday afternoon at Indiana's Deborah Tobias Field.

"Credit to Drexel, they were the better team today," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "I thought that they pressed and defended very well and took our game completely away from us. When you get that defensive pressure, you have to have poise on the ball and you have to be able to reshape and move and demand the ball to get the ball out of those dangerous pockets and we were unable to do that today."

With their first loss of the season, the Cards drop to 2-1 while the Dragons move to 2-2. In the game, Drexel held a 10-5 advantage in shots and a 4-1 edge in shots on goal. The teams were evenly match with three penalty corners apiece. In goal for the Cards, Emily Young collected two saves and Alessia Cicuto had one stop. Hallie Geiger recorded one save in the shutout for the Dragons.

In the opening quarter of the game, neither team was able to generate much offense. The Dragons earned the first corner of the contest, but the Cardinals' defense held strong.

Drexel had another scoring opportunity in the second quarter after another penalty corner subsequently led to a penalty stroke being awarded for the Dragons. Louisville redshirt freshman Alessia Cicuto entered the game and denied Natali Foster's attempt with her first career save.

The teams entered halftime with the scored knotted at 0-0 with Drexel holding a 2-1 edge in shots and a 2-0 advantage in corners.

The Dragons broke through with 5:19 left to play in the third quarter. After a shot from outside the circle hit the post, Fleur Hamers was there to send the ball into the cage for the lone goal of the game.

Louisville's best chance to score in the fourth quarter when the Cards earned a corner with under four minutes left to play, but Annabel Sep's shot was turned back by Geiger.

With 1:52 remaining in regulation, Sowry lifted sophomore goalkeeper Emily Young in favor of an extra field player, as the Cardinals increased their attack, but the Dragons held them at bay.

"Our press was undisciplined at times and they were able to move the ball freely end to end, which was disappointing," said Sowry. "Some of our transitional play was quite good, but we were unable to capitalize. We need to watch video and stay connected, because it's a quick turnaround against Indiana."

The Cardinals (2-1) will wrap up the weekend when they face Indiana Sunday at 12 p.m.