Carolina Falls To No. 11 Louisville, 3-2

Saturday, October 14

Durham, N.C.

1:00 PM

North Carolina

(11-3 (3-2ACC))

Louisville

(11-4 (4-1ACC))

Louisville

North Carolina

Feline Guenther scored for UNC in the second half against Louisville.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

October 14, 2017 | Field Hockey

Box Score Box Score (.pdf)

The Tar Heels play at VCU on Sunday

By: UNC Athletic Communications

DURHAM, N.C. – No. 11 Louisville scored last in a back-and-forth battle Saturday to claim a 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference field hockey win over host North Carolina at Duke's Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium. The fifth-ranked Tar Heels fell to 11-3 overall and 3-2 in ACC play with the loss, while the Cardinals improved to 11-4 (4-1).

The result snapped an eight-game winning streak for UNC, while Louisville won its seventh in a row.

"I'm very disappointed with the outcome," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "You have to give credit to Louisville – there's no question they outplayed us in the second half.

"The whole season is to prepare yourself for postseason and hopefully we learn from this and get better from the experience. It wasn't our best day, but there's a lot more hockey to go."

UNC got on the board first on a penalty corner goal in the 23rd minute. Junior Eva van't Hoog made the stick stop and passed the ball to the left side to junior Malin Evert, who scored her fourth goal of the fall to put the Tar Heels up 1-0. It was Carolina's fourth penalty corner of the half, and the last one UNC would draw until the second half.

Louisville answered less than five minutes later, on the team's first penalty corner of the game. Junior Katie Walsh deflected a shot by sophomore Minout Mink into the cage to tie the game at 1-1 in the 30th minute, and the score remained even at halftime.

In the second half, the Cardinals capitalized on their only penalty corner of the period to take a 2-1 lead. In the 40th minute of play, senior Abby Grimes scored on a shot from the top of the circle, assisted by freshman Marisa Martin Pelegrina and senior Marigrace Ragsdale.

The advantage stood up for almost 10 minutes before UNC scored. In the 49th minute of play, sophomore Feline Guenther picked up a loose ball in the circle and got off a shot, one of UNC's six in the second half. Louisville keeper Ayeisha McFerran had a touch on the ball but couldn't keep it from going into the cage.

Less than three minutes later, Louisville junior Taylor Stone broke the 2-2 tie with her sixth goal of the fall, dribbling into the circle from the right side and shooting past Tar Heel keeper Amanda Hendry.

With Louisville holding onto a 3-2 lead, UNC eventually called a timeout at the eight-minute mark and pulled Hendry in favor of an extra field player, but the Tar Heels weren't able to capitalize on the offensive advantage.

"I'm disappointed that once we went a goal down we didn't respond in a characteristic way," Shelton said. "I think we went a little individual and tried to smash balls forward, and that's not our game. Our game is a two-touch passing game – we look for combinations – and we went away from that. I think we needed to stick with it to have a chance to win."

Carolina got off more than twice as many shots as Louisville – 15 to seven for the game – but had just six shots and only one corner after halftime.

It marked just the third time this season that UNC, which is playing "home" games in Durham this season while a new stadium is under construction, has given up three goals. On all three of those occasions, the Tar Heels have lost.

UNC is back in action on Sunday, traveling to Richmond, Va., for a 1 p.m. game against VCU. "This one stings a little bit, so it's good to turn right around and play again," Shelton said as her players stretched nearby, already preparing themselves for another game in less than 24 hours. "I hope we learn from a loss like this."

No. 11 Louisville 3, No. 5 UNC 2
Scoring: UNC – Malin Evert (Eva van't Hoog), 22:14; UL – Katie Walsh (Minout Mink), 29:04; UL – Abby Grimes (Marisa Martin Pelegrina, Marigrace Ragsdale), 39:30; UNC – Feline Guenther, 48:13; UL – Taylor Stone, 50:56
Shots: UNC 15 (9/6), UL 7 (3/4)
Penalty corner: UNC 5 (4/1), UL 3 (2/1)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 1 (Amanda Hendry, 61:59, 1 save, 3 goals allowed; Team, 8:01); UL 4 (Ayeisha McFerran, 70:00, 4 saves, 2 goals allowed)
Records: UNC 11-3 (3-2 ACC), UL 11-4 (4-1 ACC)

UNC starters: Amanda Hendry, Eef Andriessen, Cassie Sumfest, Ashley Hoffman, Feline Guenther, Malin Evert, Morgan Goetz, Eva Smolenaars, Eva van't Hoog, Gab Major, Marissa Creatore
UNC subs: Meredith Sholder, Bryn Boylan, Catherine Hayden, Kathryn Holland, Courtnie Williamson, Megan DuVernois