University of Louisville
BALL STATE
Ball State Edges Field Hockey 3-2 in Penalty Strokes
October 05, 2002 | Field Hockey
Oct. 5, 2002
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The ninth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team fell to Mid-American Conference opponent Ball State 3-2 in penalty strokes Saturday at Trager Stadium.
Louisville got on the scoreboard less than four minutes into the game as Suzanne Irwin tipped Danielle Barr's penalty corner shot to give U of L a 1-0 lead.
Ball State tied the game at the 19:38 mark in the first half when Allison Haynes scored on a rebound off of Louisville goalkeeper Janina Perna.
U of L pulled ahead at the 22:08 mark when Sarah Baum intercepted a Ball State pass and fed the ball to Olivia Netzler to make the score 2-1.
Ball State's Jenn Budney connected on a penalty corner with assists from Becky Weaver and Kirsty Houghton to tie the game just three minutes into the second half.
With the score still tied at 2-2 at the end of regulation, the teams went to a 15-minute sudden victory overtime period. Louisville had a chance to put the game away in the first overtime when the Cards were awarded a penalty stroke at the 74:01 mark, but Ball State goalkeeper Susan McDowell's save kept BSU in the game.
The teams played a second scoreless 15 minute overtime period before going to a best-of-five penalty stroke round. Budney put Ball State on the scoreboard first with a shot to the lower left corner of the cage. Louisville's Desire' Miller placed the ball in the upper left corner of the cage for the tie. Perna then posted two saves and Louisville's Casey Lehman put the Cards ahead 2-1 in strokes with a shot to the upper left corner. Ball State's Merri McKissock also went to the upper right corner of the cage to tie it up at 2-2. McDowell saved the next Louisville penalty stroke to set up Becky Weaver's game-winner which hit the cross bar and went in to give BSU the 3-2 win.
The teams finished the game with 21 shots each. Ball State held an 11-9 penalty corner advantage. Perna had a career-high 11 saves in the game for Louisville, while McDowell finished with 12. Ball State improves to 6-3 (2-1 MAC) on the season.
Louisville (8-4, 3-1) will travel to Oxford, Ohio to play league opponent Miami (Ohio) Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.
*Note: The loss also marks the first time since the 2000 season that Louisville has lost to a team not ranked in the top 20.
