No. 5 Cardinals Take Down No. 4 Michigan

Sunday, September 11

LOUISVILLE, KY

12:00 PM

University of Louisville

(6-0)

MICHIGAN

(3-2)

Michigan

Louisville

September 11, 2022 | Field Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

By: Lori Harmon

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The fifth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team used goals from Mia Duchars and Julie Kouijzer and a fourth-quarter defensive stand to defeat No. 4 Michigan 2-1 Sunday at Trager Stadium. With the win, the Cardinals move to 6-0 on the season.

Louisville goalkeeper Sasha Elliott (6-0) collected six saves in the game and came up with a stop on a penalty stroke attempt early in the third quarter to help key the Cardinals' defense in the win.

The teams played through a scoreless first half with Michigan owning a 3-2 edge in shots and Louisville with a 2-0 advantage in penalty corners entering halftime.

The Wolverines had an opportunity to score early in the third quarter after being awarded a penalty stroke, but Elliott stopped Tina D'Anjolell's attempt.

After 42 minutes of scoreless hockey, Michigan (3-2) got on the scoreboard with 1:52 remaining in the third quarter, capitalizing on a long hit with a reverse stick shot from Katie Anderson.

The Cardinals countered less than a minute later when Duchars tipped Aimee Plumb's penalty corner shot to even the score with 1:04 left remaining in the third quarter.

With the score still knotted at 1-1, Louisville earned four corners in the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter and finally broke through when Kouijzer used penalty corner assists from Plumb and Kelsey McCrudden to push the Cards ahead 2-1 with 4:20 left on the clock.

After lifting their goalkeeper for an extra field player, the Wolverines increased their attack, delivering three shots and earning three corners in the final minute of play, but Elliott turned posted a crucial save and the Cardinals withstood the offensive onslaught to preserve the win.

JUSTINE SOWRY ON THE WIN:
"It's a great win over a great opponent, an opponent that has a lot of talent and very well-coached. So as expected, the game was going to even flow, we had to be spot on defensively, we had to work much harder than we did on Friday. And for the most part, we did a really nice job defensively. The moment that you sleep a little bit, they will capitalize and that's what they did. Overall, the first half was okay. Second half, they pressed well so we had to up tempo and when we upped tempo quick free gets and quick resets, so we started to get a lot more penetration. Happy we earned seven corners, not happy that we didn't execute on three of them at least. Our penalty corner defense unit just absorbed so much pressure in the last couple of minutes of the game, so I'm very pumped and proud of that particular unit."

UP NEXT:
Louisville will continue its five-game home stand next weekend when the Cardinals play host to No. 2 North Carolina in their ACC opener Friday at 3 p.m. Fairfield will visit Trager Stadium for a 2 p.m. matchup on Sunday.

NOTES:
• Sunday's win marked the third against a ranked opponent for Louisville this season. The Cardinals also defeated then-No. 11 Penn State and No. 13 Princeton.
• The win also snapped a two-game losing streak to Michigan. The Wolverines own the series 12-5 with the last four games being decided by one goal.
• The Cardinals have started the season with a 6-0 record for the third straight year. In 2021, Louisville matched a school record 7-0 start.
• With her game-winning goal, Kouijzer notched her third goal of the season and stands third on the team with seven points.
• Duchars delivered her first goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1.
• With her two assists in the game, Plumb now leads the team with four assists this season.
• Louisville carries a 2-0 record at Trager Stadium this season and has won its last five home games dating back to Oct. 1, 2021. Over the past two seasons, the Cardinals have posted a 10-1 record at Trager Stadium with their only loss coming at the hands of then-No. 2 Iowa on Sept. 19, 2021.
• The Cardinals have registered 13 goals this season with seven different players contributing to the total.