No. 7 Field Hockey Shuts Out No. 18 Iowa 2-0

Sunday, October 2

LOUISVILLE, KY

1:00 PM

University of Louisville

(10-2)

IOWA

(7-5)

IOWA

Louisville

October 02, 2016 | Field Hockey

Box Score Louisville 2 - Iowa 0 (PDF)Justine Sowry Post Game Interview Photo Gallery

Cards register fifth shutout of the season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. –Minout Mink scored her team-best 11^th goal and Marigrace Ragsdale registered a goal and an assist to help lead the seventh-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team 2-0 win over No. 18 Iowa Sunday afternoon at Trager Stadium.

Sunday's game also marked Louisvlle's annual 'Pink Game' to support breast cancer research and awareness.

The Cards (10-2) scored both goals in the first 10 minutes of play and went on to hold the Hawkeyes(7-5) to five shots in the game. Sophomore Ayeisha McFerran collected three saves en route to Louisville's fifth shutout of the season.

UofL quickly got on the scoreboard after drawing a penalty corner in the eighth minute of the contest. Senior Erin McCrudden got the corner started and Ragsdale was there for the stop as Mink fired a shot past Iowa goalkeeper Alexandra Pecora. With her assist on the goal, McCrudden now has 14 on the season and moves into a tie for second on Louisville's all-time single season list.

Just over two minutes later, the Cards struck again. Junior Abby Grimes moved the ball down the right side of the field and passed the ball to the top of the circle where senior Stephanie Byrne found Ragsdale on the left post for her second goal of the season.

Louisville took the 2-0 lead into the break after outshooting Iowa 7-1 and holding a 3-2 edge in corners in the first half.

Both teams had scoring chances in the second half as the Hawkeyes had five shots with McFerran picking up two saves. Pecora turned back all five of Louisville's second half shots.

In the game, the Cards outshot the Hawkeyes 12-5 and a 7-3 advantage in penalty corners.

"It was a tough preparation week for us having to play at Syracuse and then turn around and play a very good Iowa team," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "It was really important for us to get a good performance. We had some ups and downs throughout the game, but ultimately, we were able to control the majority of the game. I thought our defense played really well today to deny them many opportunities."

Louisville (10-2, 1-2 ACC) will continue its five-game home stand with an ACC matchup against No. 15 Boston College on Friday evening at 6 p.m. On Sunday, the Cards will face their fourth-straight top-20 opponent when No. 6 Northwestern visits Trager Stadium for a 1 p.m. game.