Woods Leads No. 9 Field Hockey Past No. 19 James Madison

Sunday, September 20

Chapel Hill, N.C.

11:00 AM

University of Louisville

(6-2)

James Madison

(5-2)

JMU

Louisville

Woods Leads No. 9 Field Hockey Past No. 19 James Madison

September 20, 2015 | Field Hockey

Box Score

Nicole Woods scores two goals and adds two assists in 5-0 win over JMU

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Sophomore Nicole Woods scored two goals and added a pair of assists to lead the ninth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team to a 5-0 win over No. 19 James Madison at North Carolina's Henry Stadium Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals improve to 6-2 on the season while the Dukes drop to 5-2.

"I'm very pleased with the bounce-back performance after Friday night," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "JMU started stronger than us and put us on our heels. As the game wore, on we gained more confidence and started to play some great hockey. We had an excellent second half and everyone contributed to the win in some capacity. "

James Madison opened the game by delivering three shots and drawing an early penalty corner, but the Cardinals withstood the pressure and countered. Louisville got on the scoreboard in the 11^th minute of the game when senior Victoria Stratton connected on her third goal of the season with penalty corner assists from senior Katharine Gwynne-Wood and sophomore Nicole Woods.

Louisville added to its lead at the 21:45 mark in the game. Sophomore Stephanie Byrne netted her team-leading fifth goal of the season with a feed from fellow sophomore Abby Grimes. The Cardinals took the 2-0 lead into halftime after holding a 2-0 edge in penalty corners while the Dukes held an 8-5 advantage in shots. Freshman goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran posted four saves to keep JMU at bay in the first half.

Louisville intensified its attack in the second half, outshooting James Madison 17-5, and owning a 7-4 advantage in penalty corners. In the first eight minutes of the half, the Cardinals earned four penalty corners and fired off three shots on goal. After assisting on the first goal of the game, Woods opened the scoring in the second half, this time junior Erin McCrudden provided the assist as the Cardinals took a 3-0 lead at the 43:33 mark.

Ten minutes later, Woods notched her second goal of the game after winning a one-on- one battle with JMU goalkeeper Sara Kraeutler. Woods' third goal of the season pushed Louisville's lead to 4-0.

The Cards capped the scoring with just over two minutes left the game when Woods sent a feed to Shannon Sloss who drilled a shot from the top of the circle past JMU's Kraeutler for the 5-0 final.

In the game, Louisville outshot JMU 22-13 and held a 10-7 advantage in corners. McFerran (6-2) collected six saves for the Cardinals en route to her fourth shutout of the season while Kraeutler had nine stops for the Dukes.

The Cardinals (6-2) return to action on Sept. 25 when No. 8 Wake Forest visits Trager Stadium for an ACC matchup.