Virginia Drops Friday Contest Against Louisville

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia field hockey team (3-4, 2-2 ACC) suffered a 5-2 loss to ACC-leading Louisville (6-0, 5-0 ACC) on Friday (Oct. 23) in an Atlantic Coast Conference match.

Louisville held a 2-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, but a goal from Adele Iacobucci (Malvern, Pa.) four minutes into the second quarter cut the deficit in half. The Cardinals extended the lead to 3-1 less than two minutes into the second half but Laura Janssen (Nijmegen, Netherlands) answered three minutes later to make it 3-2. The Cardinals scored in the waning seconds of the third period and added a final goal with just over three minutes left in the game for the final 5-2 margin.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Cardinals began their scoring midway through the first quarter when Mercedes Pastor converted a penalty stroke attempt.  They added a second goal, scoring off a penalty corner with three minutes left in the period. Virginia scored on its fourth corner of the game, with senior back Rachel Robinson ( Mount Joy, Pa.) sending in a pass to Iacobucci whose shot sailed into the upper corner of the net.

Pastor scored again 1:22 into the second half when her hit after a corner deflected into the net off of a UVA defender’s stick. The Cavaliers narrowed the gap back down to one when junior back Amber Ezechiels (Niew-Vennep, Netherlands) fired in a long, quick pass to Janssen in the circle, with Janssen shooting the ball into the goal. Momentum returned to the Cardinals’ side when Madison Walsh got control of a ball bouncing through the circle and fired it into the goal late in the third quarter. The squad added a fifth goal with 3:24 remaining for the 5-2 final

FROM HEAD COACH MICHELE MADISON
“Louisville brought a really physical game and they took it to us. It looked like they were playing for a championship, and they certainly got the job done.

“We were able to move the ball when we got into space and played the easy pass and the give-n- goes. We were able to get down the field and get into the circle. We had at a beautiful goal by Laura, connection. And Adele. But you had to capitalize on a corner. That’s our strength, so we have to look go back and look at that. We need to stay aggressive tomorrow. We have to stay aggressive and stay simple, and mark better.”

NOTES

• With the victory, Louisville is guaranteed at least a share of the regular-season ACC title and the No. 1 seed in the ACC Championship
• The Cavaliers and Cardinals each took 13 shots
• Both of Virginia’s goalkeepers played in the game. Junior Lauren Hausheer (West Windsor, N.J.) got the start, allowing three goals with one save. Sophomore Taylor Henriksen subbed in during the third quarter, allowing two goals with one save
• Louisville’s Hollyn Barr made seven saves
• Laura Janssen’s goal was her team-leading fourth of the year
• Adele Iacobucci’s goal was her third of the year

UP NEXT

• The Cavaliers and Cardinals close out the series with a non-conference game on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 2 p.m.
• The game will stream live online on ACCNX