University of Louisville
MICHIGAN
Field Hockey Prevails Over Michigan 3-2 in Overtime
September 20, 2009 | Field Hockey
Sept. 20, 2009
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - - Senior Kayla May's overtime goal lifted the 16th ranked University of Louisville field hockey team to a 3-2 win over visiting Michigan Sunday afternoon at Trager Stadium. The Cardinals improve to 5-3, while the Wolverines drop to 2-6 on the season.
"We knew it was going to be a great battle," said U of L head coach Pam Bustin. "The key for us was to bring the intensity and level of play that we exhibited on Friday in back to back games. I was happy with the way we came out of a lull and continued to play our game until we finished with a win."
The Cards wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, striking just 2:56 into the game when junior Nicole Youman connected on a rebound from junior Karah Nall's penalty corner shot.
The Wolverines answered when Alex Zeringue connected on a pass from Alicia Mayer to tie the game at 1-1 at the 24:24 mark.
The teams entered halftime with the scored knotted at 1-1 after Michigan held the edge in shots (5-4) and penalty corners (4-3).
Michigan capitalized on Meredith Way's penalty corner goal to pull ahead 2-1 midway through the second half. But the lead was short-lived when, two minutes later, Youman sent a penalty corner shot to Hayley Turner, who was waiting on the left side of the cage to tie the game at 2-2 with just over 20 minutes remaining in regulation.
In the second half, Louisville outshot Michigan 8-4 and held a 6-4 lead in corners. Both teams had scoring opportunities, trading shots and corners in the final minutes but neither could capitalize and as a steady rain began to fall, the game entered a 15 minute sudden-victory overtime period.
With the field cut down to seven players on each side the Cards drew an early corner just two minutes into overtime, but the Michigan defense held strong. Both teams were able to get a shot off before Turner broke and sent a pass to May who was posted in front of Michigan goalkeeper Paige Pickett to connect on the game-winner.
In the game, U of L outshot Michigan 14-10 and held a 10-8 edge in corners. Senior Heather Bustanoby (5-3) had four saves in while Pickett also had four stops for the Wolverines.
The Cards (5-3, 0-1) will travel to Storrs, Conn., for a BIG EAST Conference tilt Sept. 26.
