University of Louisville
RUTGERS
No. 20 Field Hockey Tops Rutgers 4-2
October 08, 2011 | Field Hockey
Oct. 8, 2011
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - - The No. 20 University of Louisville field hockey team scored three second half goals to overcome a 2-1 halftime deficit in a 4-2 win over BIG EAST opponent Rutgers (3-9, 1-3) Saturday afternoon at Trager Stadium. Louisville (8-5, 2-2) will continue conference play at Villanova on Oct. 15.
"This was a great win for our program," said U of L head coach Justine Sowry. "The last couple of weeks have been really tough, but we fought through it and this game was no exception. We played a quality opponent who gave everything they had. I was very happy with how we stuck to the game plan. We kept fighting and working hard for each other and we came out with a great result."
The Cardinals struck just five minutes into the game. After a flurry of activity in front of the cage, Amber Thomas emerged with her second goal of the season to put the Cards on the scoreboard at the 4:50 mark in the game.
Rutgers responded midway through the half when Gia Nappi scored on a penalty corner assist from Carlie Rouh to even the score at 1-1.
The Scarlet Knights held possession in their offensive end throughout much of the first half and pulled ahead 2-1 on another corner combination - this time it was Rouh who finished off an assist from Nappi - at the 26:07 mark in the game.
The teams entered halftime with Rutgers leading 2-1 after holding a 4-3 edge in shots and a 6-0 advantage in corners.
Louisville regrouped at halftime and came out of the break on the offensive attack, drawing its first penalty corner of the game early in second half. At the 41:03 mark in the game, the Cards capitalized on their second corner as senior Hayley Turner registered her team-leading eighth goal of the season on an assist from senior Caitlin Collins to tie the game at 2-2.
Six minutes later, the Cardinals regained the lead for good when sophomore Erin Schneidtmiller slid a pass to fellow sophomore Kelsey Rosenmeier on the left post. Rosenmeier connected on her second goal of the season to make it a 3-2 game.
Senior Heather Stevens notched her first score of the season off of a pass from Mallory Mason with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Louisville outshot Rutgers 9-4 in the second half and finished the game with a 12-8 edge in shots. Each team had six penalty corners in the second half with the Scarlet Knights holding the overall corner advantage at 12-6.
Junior Erin Conrad (8-5) collected four saves in the game to help the Cards improve to 2-2 in league play. Sarah Stuby also had four stops for Rutgers (3-9, 1-3).
