Field Hockey: No. 9 UVA rallies to top No. 5 Louisville, 2-1

The No. 9 UVA field hockey team (10-3, 2-2 ACC) scored twice in the fourth quarter to pick up a 2-1 road win at No. 5 Louisville (10-2, 2-2 ACC) on Friday at Trager Stadium in Louisville, Ky.

Louisville scored its goal with 12 seconds remaining in the first quarter off a penalty corner to take a 1-0 lead. Senior striker Erin Shanahan (Pasadena, Md.) had a penalty stroke for a chance to tie the game 45 seconds into the fourth quarter. Louisville called in goalie Sam Minrath from the bench to defend the attempt. She stopped the shot to maintain the Cardinals’ 1-0 lead.

Freshman Laura Janssen (Nijmegen, Netherlands) tied up the game four minutes later, knocking in a pass from sophomore midfielder Annie McDonough (Kennett Square, Pa.). Shanahan scored the game-winner with 4:44 remaining in the game.

After an initial attempt from McDonough was saved, Shanahan smashed a rebound off the goalie’s pads into the wide-open left side of the net.

“We got better today, that’s for sure. That competition was just endline to endline. Louisville was on fire. We were on fire. We just kept exchanging momentums. Kudos to both teams. I thought it was a fantastic competition. At halftime, I told them to just keep doing it. Keep doing what they were doing and it was going to break. We were getting the shots. We were getting the opportunities. Stay alert and stay aggressive, and they did that.”