University of Louisville
Wake Forest
Louisville Field Hockey Takes Down Wake Forest 2-1
October 14, 2012 | Field Hockey
Oct. 14, 2012
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Junior Michelle Amon's goal with 8:33 remaining in the game lifted the University of Louisville field hockey team to a 2-1 win over host No. 22 Wake Forest on Sunday.
"We really let ourselves down on Friday against a BIG EAST opponent but we rebounded well today against another quality line up," said U of L head coach Justine Sowry. "Today we made the decision to play hockey. We competed, we worked hard, fought hard and played together. We did have some impressive individual performances but the display of total team effort and contribution made the final result that much sweeter."
We must use the same focus, purpose and commitment this week to get a positive result in a 'must win' game this weekend.
Wake Forest (6-8) took an early lead just over four minutes into the game when Kari Walkley picked off a pass in front of the cage inside the circle and buried it past Cardinal goalkeeper Erin Conrad.
Louisville (9-7) answered at the 16:28 mark with a goal from senior Amber Thomas. Sophomore Mallory Mason inserted a penalty corner and freshman Victoria Stratton launched a shot toward the goal, but Thomas picked up the deflection of the shot and beat Wake goalkeeper Kaitlyn Ruhf for the equalizer.
The teams entered the break tied at 1-1 after Wake Forest held a 12-4 advantage in shots while Conrad registered eight first half saves. Louisville held a 4-3 edge in corners.
Wake Forest had a chance to pull ahead in the 42nd minute when Anna Kozniuk fired a shot from the top left side of the circle toward the cage past Conrad, but senior Natasha Leickly came up with a defensive save on the play by swatting the ball away just before it could cross the line for a goal.
The Cardinals grabbed the go-ahead goal at the 61:27 mark when Michelle Amon collected a pass from junior Erin Schneidtmiller just to the left of the cage and sent the deflection past Ruhf to make the score 2-1. Louisville held the Wake Forest offense in check for the final nine minutes to seal the final score.
The Demon Deacons held a 5-4 edge in second half shots and outshot the Cards 17-8 in the game. Wake also held a 2-1 lead in penalty corners, the teams finished the game with five corners apiece. Conrad tied a career-high with 11 saves in the game while Ruhf had four stops.
The Cards (9-7) return to Trager Stadium for the final two home games of the regular season. Louisville will honor seniors Erin Conrad, Haley Jurich, Natasha Leickly and Amber Thomas in their final home weekend on Oct. 20 when the Cards face BIG EAST foe Villanova at 12 p.m. The team will play its regular season home finale on Monday against No. 18 Ohio State at 4 p.m.
