No. 12 Louisville Field Hockey Defeats Indiana 5-1 in Season Opener

Friday, August 26

Bloomington, IN

3:00 PM

University of Louisville

(1-0)

Indiana

(0-1)

LOU

Indiana

No. 12 Louisville Field Hockey Defeats Indiana 5-1 in Season Opener

August 26, 2016 | Field Hockey

Box Score Louisville 5 - Indiana 1 ((PDF)

Freshman Minout Mink scores a pair of goals in her collegiate debut

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Freshman Minout Mink scored a pair of goals in her collegiate debut to help the 12^th-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team open the 2016 season with a 5-1 win over Indiana in the annual Battle of the Border.

"I'm very happy with today's solid team performance," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "This was the first time that we started to play to our identity and on a different surface to what we usually are comfortable with. It is a positive step forward for our team and we look forward to getting better for our next contest."

The Cardinals (1-0) wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as freshman Bethany Russ sent a feed to junior Marigrace Ragsdale who delivered the first shot of the game past IU goalkeeper Noelle Rother to give Louisville a 1-0 lead just 1:48 into the game.

The Hoosiers (0-1) answered six minutes later when Maddie Latino connected on a cross from Sam Scire to even the score at 1-1.

Indiana threatened to score again with a penalty corner, but Louisville sophomore goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran picked up a pair of key saves to hold the Hoosiers at bay.

Louisville gained possession and momentum as the Cards made their way down the field. Russ delivered her second assist of the day, connecting with sophomore Katie Walsh who deflected a shot into the cage to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.

UofL tacked on one more first-half goal on of the second of two back-to-back penalty corners. Senior Erin McCrudden got the corner started and Ragsdale slid the ball to Mink who fired a shot past a diving Rother to give the Cards a 3-1 lead with three minutes left in the first half.

In the second half, the teams played through 17 scoreless minutes before the Cardinals would go on to score two more goals while outshooting the Hoosiers 8-1. Midway through the half, Mink struck again, this time with penalty corner assists from McCrudden and senior Lotta Kahlert. The freshman's second goal of the game gave Louisville a 4-1 advantage.

The Cardinals' offense continued five minutes later when Whena Munn notched her first career goal. Junior Nicole Woods got the play started when she dribbled into the circle and sent a pass to senior Shannon Sloss who directed a cross to Munn. The freshman deflected the ball into a wide open cage making score 5-1 with just under 13 minutes left to play.

Almost immediately after Munn's goal, the game entered a series of weather delays which lasted nearly two hours. Once the game resumed, neither team registered a shot in the remaining 13 minutes.

Louisville outshot Indiana 19-7 in the game and held a 9-2 advantage in corners while McFerran (1-0) posted four saves in the win.

The win marked Louisville's fourth straight in the series and its largest margin of victory against the Hoosiers.

The Cardinals will travel to Oxford, Ohio to face Miami (Ohio) on Monday at 2 p.m.