University of Louisville
CALIFORNIA
No. 7 Field Hockey Blanks California 4-0
October 18, 2014 | Field Hockey
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The seventh-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team got goals from four different players en route to a 4-0 win over California Saturday afternoon at Trager Stadium. The Cardinals improve to 11-4 while the Golden Bears drop to 9-6 on the season.
"We couldn't have asked for a better performance today," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "It was very disappointing and disheartening yesterday. We put in different halves, bad first half, better second half. It was a physical game. We had to be mentally and emotionally tough today, and I was pleased with our performance."
The teams battled evenly through the first half with four shots apiece with the only goal coming on senior Mallory Mason's penalty stroke at the 8:57 mark in the game. The Cardinals attacked early, firing off two shots in the first five minutes and earned a penalty corner in the ninth minute of the game. A penalty stroke was awarded following the corner and Mason registered her sixth goal of the season to give Louisville a 1-0 lead.
The Cardinals took the 1-0 lead into halftime after holding a 2-1 edge in corners. Louisville goalkeeper junior Sydney King had three first half saves while California's Courtney Hendrickson had two stops in the first half.
Louisville wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the second half scoring two goals in the first two minutes. The Cardinals were awarded a corner in the first minute of play and senior Alyssa Voelmle rifled a shot past Hendrickson for her team-best eighth goal of the season to make the score 2-0.
Less than a minute later, sophomore Lotta Kahlert connected on a rebound off of Hendrickson's pad for her sixth goal of the season to increase the lead to 3-0.
The Cards completed the scoring with just over a minute remaining in the game when freshman Marigrace Ragsdale sent a cross to fellow freshman Stephanie Byrne who notched her third goal of the season for the 4-0 final.
The Golden Bears had several scoring chances in the second half, drawing four corners and firing off five shots, but the Cardinals' defense stood strong with King collecting four saves in the second half.
In the game, California outshot Louisville 9-7 and had a 5-3 edge in corners. King (11-4) had seven stops while Hendrickson collected two saves in the game.
The Cardinals (11-4) will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Ohio University.
