Box Score (PDF)
RICHMOND, Va. – The UMass Lowell field hockey team (2-1) dropped a tight 2-1 game against #8 Louisville (2-1) at the University of Richmond's Crenshaw Field on Saturday afternoon, notching its first loss of the 2018 season.
"I am very happy with today's team performance," said Head Coach
Shannon Hlebichuk. "We had set some expectations going into today's game, and we met them all. We were organized and disciplined for the entire 70 minutes. Playing a top-10 team in extreme heat certainly was a challenge, but our mindset was to compete, and I think the final score showed that we competed with until the final whistle."
The teams played to a 0-0 stalemate in the first half, with Louisville leading in shots (7 to 1).
Eva Berkhout tallied three saves for the first-half shutout, and the River Hawks staved off five penalty corners by the Cardinals, including a corner as time expired in the stanza.
Louisville's Katie Schneider struck just 47 seconds into the second half, with a tip-in off a cross from Mackenzie Karl to give Louisville a 1-0 lead.
UMass Lowell answered back with 12 minutes left in the game, thanks to a goal by
Clara Defourt (Brussels, Belgium) off a corner, assisted by
Jenna Berger (Waterloo, Ontario). The goal was Defourt's fourth career goal, and her first of the season.
Louisville responded soon after as Meghan Schneider scored after a corner with just less than eight minutes remaining, assisted by Carter Ayars and Katie Walsh. The Cards were able to hold on and end the game with a 2-1 advantage.
The River Hawks took five shots, with three on goal – two of those shots on goal came from
Grace Davis (Waterloo, Ontario). Berkhout, Defourt,
Brooke Roberts (Medway, Mass.) and
Katie Lynes (Oakville, Ontario) led the way in minutes played, each playing the entire game.
"I am very proud of our team," Hlebichuk added. "It was a challenging weekend on many accounts, but we made great progress in a lot of areas, which is exactly what we hope for this early in the season."
UMass Lowell returns to the field next Friday, taking on Columbia at 7 p.m. at Wicked Blue Field.
