No. 6 Field Hockey Tops Ohio State 2-1

Sunday, September 18

LOUISVILLE, KY

1:00 PM

University of Louisville

(7-1)

OHIO STATE

(3-5)

Ohio State

Louisville

September 18, 2016 | Field Hockey

Box Score Louisville 2 - Ohio State 1 (PDF)Post game interview: Justine Sowry Photo Gallery

Cards improve to 7-1 on the season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The sixth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team defeated Ohio State 2-1 Sunday afternoon at Trager Stadium. The Cardinals improve to 7-1 on the season while the Buckeyes drop to 3-5.

The contest was evenly-matched with each team registering 14 shots and Ohio State holding a 7-6 edge in penalty corners.

"It was an interesting game, which is what you get when a quality opponent comes in and we're definitely a little mentally and physically fatigued after the game on Friday night," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "It wasn't what I was expecting. It was very sloppy at times and we didn't manage the game well late."

Louisville took advantage of the first penalty corner of the game to jump to an early lead at the 3:16 mark. Senior Erin McCrudden got the corner started and junior Marigrace Ragsdale provided the stop for senior Lizzie Gittens who sent a shot toward the cage. Junior Nicole Woods deflected the shot into the top left corner of the cage for her first goal of the season.

The Cardinals took the 1-0 lead into halftime after outshooting the Buckeyes 9-7 and holding a 4-2 corner advantage. Six of Louisville's first-half shots were on goal with OSU goalkeeper Liz Tamburro picking up five saves. Louisville goalkeeper sophomore Ayeisha McFerran turned back three shots to keep Ohio State off the scoreboard.

UofL again struck quickly in the fourth minute of the second half. Freshman Minout Mink registered her team-best ninth goal of the season with penalty corner assists from Gittens and McCrudden to increase the lead to 2-0.

The teams continued to battle with Ohio State earning three penalty corners to Louisville's one before the Buckeyes converted on their fifth corner of the half. Maddy Humphrey deflected a shot by Morgan Kile to make the score 2-1 with just under four minutes remaining in the game.

In the final minutes of the game, both teams had opportunities, but neither could get a shot off and the Cardinals came away with the 2-1 victory.

In the second half, Ohio State held a 7-5 edge in shots with McFerran collected three saves to total six in the game. The Buckeyes led the second half corner tally 5-2.

Louisville (7-1, 0-1 ACC) will return to conference play on Friday when the Cards face No. 11 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C. UofL will then travel to Appalachian State for a Sunday matchup.