No. 12 Louisville Tops Kent State 4-2

Wednesday, September 4

LOUISVILLE, KY

3:30 p.m.

University of Louisville

(3-0)

KENT STATE

(1-2)

KENTST

LOU

September 04, 2019 | Field Hockey

Box Score Justine Sowry Interview Madison Walsh Interview Louisville 4- Kent State 2

Bethany Russ delivers a pair of goals and an assist to lead the Cardinals to their third straight win

By: Lori Harmon

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bethany Russ scored a pair of goals and Madison Walsh and Margot Lawn tallied a goal apiece as the No. 12 University of Louisville field hockey team defeated Kent State 4-2 Wednesday afternoon at Trager Stadium.

The Cardinals (3-0) built a 4-0 lead and withstood a late surge by the Golden Flashes (1-2) to close out a season-opening home stand. Russ registered her second multi-goal game of the season and dished out an assist to extend her team-leading point total to 11. Lawn notched her first career goal and fellow freshman Mattie Tabor collected her first career assist.

"Some great hockey, some of the best hockey that we've played - and also some of the worst hockey," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "It's interesting the quarter system that we're playing. It's a momentum killer, and it sort of serves as an equalizer so teams can come back and reorganize themselves and reset their focus. We're struggling a bit with that."

The Cardinals wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. In the seventh minute of the contest, freshman Margot Lawn sent a breakaway pass from near midfield to Russ, who sent a reverse-stick shot into the cage.

Just over a minute later, Russ sent a feed to the right post where Walsh tapped a shot past Kent State goalkeeper Azure Fernsler.

The first-half offense continued for the Cards when junior Mercedes Pastor delivered a shot that glanced off of a Kent State defender's stick, and Lawn was there to send the ball into the cage.

UofL took the 3-0 lead into halftime after outshooting Kent State 6-2. The Golden Flashes held a 1-0 edge in first half penalty corners.

Louisville struck quickly in the second half after earning its first corner of the in the third minute of the frame. Shots by junior Alli Bitting, freshman Emilia Kaczmarczyk and Lawn were turned back by the Kent State defense, but Russ capitalized on a loose ball to deliver her second goal of the game and team-best fifth of the season.

The Cardinals held the 4-0 lead until early in the fourth quarter when Clara Rodriguez Seto and Laila Richter connected on back-to-back goals within a span of 15 seconds, cutting the lead in half with 10:53 remaining in the game.

The teams continued to battle, but neither team was able to register a shot for the remainder of the game.

"The first quarter was outstanding," said Sowry. "With every possession, we made crisp passes together, it was impressive. But as the game wore on, in different areas of the game we didn't play well. We're still trying to find one another, connect, but we need poise on the ball and really try to help each other try and give other options as well. It's defensive discipline, we are not disciplined enough defensively. Again, some really great stuff and some stuff to take away."

Louisville will embark on a six-game road stretch, starting this weekend with a pair of games in East Lansing, Mich. The Cards will take on Michigan State Sunday at 11 a.m. and UC Davis Monday at 11 a.m.