No. 9 Syracuse field hockey falls to Louisville 3-2 and drops to sixth seed in ACC tournament
By Sydney Chan | @SydneyO_Chan
CitrusTV Field Hockey Beat Reporter
LOUISVILLE, K.Y. — No. 9 Syracuse field hockey (11-5, 3-5 Atlantic Coast) closed its regular season with a narrow 3-2 defeat at Louisville (8-9, 2-6 Atlantic Coast). The result marked the Cardinals’ first victory over the Orange in four meetings and solidified SU as the sixth seed in next week’s ACC Tournament.
In a matchup carrying postseason implications for both slides, the Cards delivered, striking first and never trailing despite a late Orange rally. After a scoreless opening quarter that saw just one combined shot from a Syracuse attacking penalty corner attempt, Louisville broke through in the second frame. SU defender Bo van Kempen was called for blocking a corner shot from inside the cage, leading to a Cards penalty stroke. Midfielder Aubreigh Uba buried her shot to give Louisville a 1-0 lead.
Syracuse maintained possession and generated multiple entries into the attacking third but struggled to capitalize. The Cardinals doubled their advantage early in the third when defender Trijntje Herfkens connected with forward Rylie Wollerton off a seamless feed to make it 2-0 Louisville.
The Cuse finally answered a few minutes later. On a penalty corner, defender Pati Strunk inserted to forward Liz Stange, who executed a clean trap before setting up defender Danique Schuurman for a smooth flick aimed towards the left post. The grad student’s goal marked her fifth of the season and cut SU’s deficit in half.
Louisville forward Tyler Everslage restored the Cards’ two-goal cushion early in the fourth with an unassisted strike, pushing the Cards ahead 3-1 with just over 13 minutes to play. But Syracuse’s attack continued to press, earning back-to-back penalty corners late in the frame. On the first insert, both van Kempen and freshman Sammie Goin’s shots were denied, but the Orange drew another chance seconds later. This time, van Kempen’s drag flick found Strunk at the back post for the tip-in, trimming the margin to one with just under seven minutes remaining.
The Cuse pulled goalkeeper Tane King with 6:28 to go for an extra attacker, but despite several close chances, the Orange couldn’t find the equalizer. Syracuse outshot Louisville 14-7 and earned six more penalty corners but failed to convert on its opportunities. The loss was the Orange’s third in their last four outings and fifth in ACC play after starting the season 6-0 overall.
With the final regular season game of the ACC calendar complete, seeding is set for the 2025 ACC Tournament, hosted next week at Louisville’s Trager Stadium. Finishing with a 3-5 conference record — with all five losses coming by one goal — Syracuse enters as the No. 6 seed and faces third-seeded Wake Forest, a Co-Regular Season Champion. The last meeting between the Orange and the Demon Deacons ended in a 2-1 overtime win for Wake. The teams face off Tuesday at 6pm.
