Kouijzer Lifts No. 9 Cardinals to Season-Opening Win Over Bucknell

Friday, August 26

University Park, PA

7:30 PM

University of Louisville

(1-0)

Bucknell University

(0-1)

Bucknell

Louisville

Kouijzer Lifts No. 9 Cardinals to Season-Opening Win Over Bucknell

August 26, 2022 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: Lori Harmon

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Senior Julie Kouijzer scored a pair of goals to lift the ninth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey to 2-1 win over Bucknell Friday evening at Penn State's Field Hockey Complex. The Cardinals have now won nine straight season openers dating back to 2014.

"It was great to get the first win on the board," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "Bucknell was a great opponent and at times they put us under a lot of pressure. We had some great passages of play that we can build upon and equally some key lessons to learn about controlling tempo or how to shift momentum back in our favor. Our penalty corner execution was clutch!"

The Cardinals (1-0) will return to action on Sunday when they take on host No. 11 Penn State (1-0) at 12 p.m. The Nittany Lions opened their season with a 3-2 win against Virginia on Friday.

Kouijzer registered Louisville's first goal of the season as the Cards quickly got on the scoreboard with a penalty corner goal in fourth minute of play. With assists from juniors Aimee Plumb and Mia Duchars, Kouijzer notched her seventh career goal to put the Cardinals on top 1-0.

Louisville took the 1-0 lead into halftime after the teams battled evenly through the first two quarters of play with Bucknell outshooting Louisville 8-6, but the Cards gaining a 6-5 edge in shots on goal. Louisville goalkeeper Sasha Elliott collected saves to match Bucknell's Clara McCormick's total. The Bison earned four corners – including three in the second quarter while Louisville was awarded a pair of corners.

Bucknell got on the scoreboard midway through the third quarter when Lily Neilson delivered an unassisted goal to tie the game at 1-1. The Cardinals withstood another Bison corner in the third quarter as Elliott recorded her sixth stop of the game.

With the contest still knotted at 1-1 entering the fourth quarter, the Cardinals broke through with just over seven minutes remaining in the game. Kouizer connected on another penalty corner, this time with an assist from senior Kelsey McCrudden as Louisville regained the lead. With her second goal of the game, the team co-captain extends her career total to eight.

The Cards held strong throughout the remainder of the contest to preserve their first win of the season. In the game, each team registered 11 shots with Louisville owning a 9-7 advantage in shots on goal and Bucknell carrying a 5-4 edge in corners. Elliott opened her career at Louisville with six savs while McCormick collected seven stops.