Balanced Offense Leads No. 12 Cards to 4-1 Win Against Michigan State

Sunday, September 8

East Lansing, MI

11:00 a.m.

University of Louisville

(4-1)

Michigan State

(3-1)

Louisville

Michigan State

Madison Walsh drives the ball into the circle during the exhibition against Miami (OH) at Trager Stadium on August 25.

Photo by: Adam Creech | Louisville Athletics

Balanced Offense Leads No. 12 Cards to 4-1 Win Against Michigan State

September 08, 2019 | Field Hockey

Box Score Louisville 4 - Michigan State 1 (box score)

Cards move to 4-0 on the season

By: Lori Harmon

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Junior Madison Walsh dished out two assists as the 12^th-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team got goals from four different players en route to a 4-1 win over host Michigan State Sunday. The Cardinals will return to action Monday against UC Davis.

"It's nice to get our first road win of the year," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "In the first half, they were beating us with their speed and skill in the outsides. We made a defensive adjustment at half time, which was more about being sharper and with greater physical effort to close space down quicker. When we came up with the ball, we played Louisville field hockey for the most part and we were able to create a lot of opportunities and get some scrappy goals."

After a slow start that led to a 1-1 tie at halftime, UofL erupted for three unanswered goals in the second half. In the game, the Cards outshot the Spartans 24-4 with a 14-2 advantage in shots on goal. Louisville also tallied five penalty corners to Michigan State's three.

The Cardinals (4-0) struck quickly when freshman Mattie Tabor registered her first career goal after connecting on a pass from junior Madison Walsh just 35 seconds into the contest.

The Spartans (3-1) answered with a penalty corner goal with 3:30 remaining in the first quarter. Mienke Bloemsaat utilized assists from Cara Bonshak and Kelsey Keener to even the score at 1-1.

The teams entered halftime with the score knotted at 1-1 after Louisville outshot Michigan State 11-3 and held a 3-2 edge in penalty corners. Louisville goalkeeper Hollyn Barr had one save while MSU's Jade Arundell had five first-half stops.

The Cardinals regrouped during the break and proceeded to score three second-half goals while outshooting Michigan State 10-1 in the third quarter and 3-0 in the fourth.

Louisville opened the third quarter with an early goal, this time freshman Margot Lawn tipped in a shot from Walsh who registered her second assist of the game as the Cards took a 2-1 lead behind Lawn's second goal of the season.

The Cards tacked on another goal after being awarded a penalty corner in the 43^rd minute of play. Junior Mercedes Pastor's shot on goal was turned back by Arundell, but senior Carter Ayars was there to push the rebound into the cage for her second goal of the season to give Louisville a 3-1 lead with under three minutes left in the third quarter.

UofL capped the scoring with 15 seconds left to play when Pastor sent a diving shot past Arundell, bringing the final score to 4-1.

Louisville goalkeeper Hollyn Barr (4-0) had one save while Arundell had 10 stops for the Spartans.