University of Louisville
Villanova
Field Hockey Tops Villanova 6-2
October 10, 2009 | Field Hockey
Oct. 10, 2009
VILLANOVA, Pa. - - Nikki Auker, Kayla May and Nicole Youman each scored a pair of goals to lift the 15th ranked University of Louisville field hockey team to a 6-2 win over host Villanova Saturday afternoon in a BIG EAST Conference matchup.
The first half began with even play as both teams tried to control possession of the ball for nearly 25 minutes. The Cardinals got their first break in the 27th minute as Karah Nall found Auker to take a 1-0 lead. Just four minutes later, U of L found the cage again as May capitalized off a pass from Youman to make it a 2-0 game.
Less than a minute later, the Wildcats found themselves in a similar situation off a penalty corner opportunity when Dana Ramsden connected with Meghan Ryan to cut the lead to 2-1.
The Cards quickly responded when, three minutes later, Rachel Hollenbach's pass found Auker to give Louisville a 3-1 lead going into halftime. In the first half, Louisville outshot Villanova 12-5 and held a 4-3 edge in corners.
The second 35 provided plenty of action as both teams were looking to solidify a lead. Louisville came out in the 41st minute with another goal off a penalty corner when Youman scored to the far post off a feed from Tuli Lim to increase the lead to 4-1. The Wildcats scored their second and last goal of the contest in the 49th minute when Lauren Wuzzardo connected with Ramsden at the top of the circle and placed the ball to the far post.
The Cardinals tacked on two more goals as Youman and Lim combined scored in the 56th minute and May delivered on an assist from Youman in the 61st minute for the final score of 6-2.
Louisville outshot Villanova by a 30-14 margin and 18-6 in shots on goal. Goalkeeper Heather Bustanoby collected three saves in the cage for the Cardinals while Erin Conrad closed out the final seven minutes. Villanova's Megan Goelz had four stops in the loss while Maura McCormick accounted for eight saves.
U of L (7-5, 2-2 BIG EAST) moves to third place in league standings, while the Wildcats (7-4, 1-2) drop to fifth.
The Cards will travel to Ohio State for a midweek game on Oct. 14. U of L will return to BIG EASTplay when they play host to Providence on Friday, Oct. 16 at 2 p.m. That game will be televised by WHAS11 and aired in a delayed broadcast with Sean Moth and Suzanne (Irwin) Bush carrying announcing duties.
Also during Friday's Providence game, Team Cardinal will participating in a food drive to help area families during Thanksgiving. Fans who bring canned goods with them to the game will be entered in a raffle for a field hockey gift basket to be given away at halftime.
Louisville will close the weekend with a game against No. 4 Wake Forest on Sunday at1 p.m. The Cards will celebrate senior day by honoring goalkeeper Heather Bustanoby and forwards Kayla May and Julie-Anne Smith. Fans are encouraged to wear white as the Cards attempt to set a regular season attendance record mark of over 700.
