By Jordan Shim-

The Louisville women’s soccer team overcame their offensive woes to defeat Belmont 2-1 in overtime on Sunday afternoon. Louisville improved to 5-2-1, while Belmont fell to 1-3-3.

Even after a strong performance from Belmont goalkeeper Stephanie Bukevoc, and a slew of unfortunate events, Brooklynn Rivers’ brace in the second half capped off a resilient performance.

“We were poor,” coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes said. “It was the worst performance all season, but we still won, which is good. These things happen in soccer.”

Louisville started the game sluggish in the first half, possibly a byproduct of a quick turnaround. Belmont took advantage and opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. The Cards failed to clear a Belmont corner kick far enough. A cross was sent back in where Meg Howard beat Taylor Bucklin for an easy tap-in.

Defender Inger Katrine Bjerke gathered the team for an emergency meeting after conceding the goal to refocus. Louisville would improve going forward, but still had difficulties with Belmont’s press.

“They’re a tough team,” coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes said. “They pressed us, and we made some mistakes.”

Belmont held onto their 1-0 lead heading into the break. Halftime marked 197 minutes Louisville had gone without a goal.

Louisville came out of the locker room a different team. They were more energetic and resumed their high energy style. The Cards turned on the offense, and the chances were plentiful.

Kaela Dickerman had the first real opportunity to equalize in the 68th minute. She received a cross and slipped the ball past Bukevoc, but trailing Sarah Bossung cleared the ball off the line to retain Belmont’s 1-0 lead.

The second chance came shortly after. Allison Whitfield dribbled past a Belmont defender to create a running lane into the box. With Bukevoc charging, she passed to Brooklynn Rivers. Rivers’ attempted to shoot with the first touch, but sent the ball into the sky and over for a goal kick.

The Cards would draw a penalty from a hand ball in the box in the 70th minute. Callie McKinney stepped up to equalize and shot left, but Bukevoc made a great reaction save to preserve the lead once again.

With less than 15 minutes to go in regulation, Belmont would sit back and defend. Shelby Cohen took advantage of the space to cut her way inside and unleash a screamer from outside the box. Her shot ricocheted off of the bottom portion of the crossbar, bouncing the ball back into play that Belmont cleared.

Official Tony DeLois awarded Louisville a second penalty kick in the 78th minute after Alison Price was tripped up in the box. Rivers stepped up to take the spot-kick. With the pressure on her shoulders, she also shot left that hit the fingertips of Bukevoc, but ultimately hit inside the side netting to equalize.

“We switched to a 3-5-2 to get numbers forward,” Ferguson-Dayes said. “We created chances, and it paid off for us with the goal.”

Rivers would net the winner in the 8th minute of overtime. She gathered the ball at midfield and ran at the Belmont defense all the way into the box. Her shot would fly past the out-stretched Bukevoc to the top left corner to complete the comeback.

“Being a freshman, she stepped up to take the penalty,” Ferguson-Dayes said. “She’s good for us now, but I don’t think we’ve seen what she’s fully capable of.”

The Cards concluded their final non-conference game with a 24-7 shot advantage.

Rivers led the Cardinals with six shots, all in the second half. Jill Vetere, Callie McKinney, and Allison Whitfield followed with three each.

After seven consecutive home matches, Louisville will pack their bags and travel to Pittsburgh and then Duke to begin ACC conference play. They will be back in action at Lynn Stadium on Sept. 25 against Boston College for a 1 p.m kickoff.

Photo by Jordan Shim / The Louisville Cardinal