No. 5 Cards Down No. 18 Ohio State for Fifth Straight Win

Friday, September 8

LOUISVILLE, KY

6:00 PM

University of Louisville

(5-0)

Ohio State

(5-1)

Ohio State

Louisville

Photo by: Rachel Klotz | Louisville Athletics

No. 5 Cards Down No. 18 Ohio State for Fifth Straight Win

September 08, 2023 | Field Hockey

Box Score Aimee Plumb Postgame Interview Justine Sowry Postgame Interview Photo Gallery

Aimee Plumb scores both goals, Merlijn van der Vegt collects five saves in the Cards' 2-1 win over the Buckeyes

By: Lori Harmon

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Aimee Plumb scored two goals and Merlijn van der Vegt collected five saves to help the fifth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team to a 2-1 win over No. 18 Ohio State.

With the victory, the Cardinals extend their season-opening win streak to five games while the Buckeyes suffered their first loss of the season, dropping to 5-1.

"Ohio State is a really good team," said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. "They brought a fantastic effort today, very skilled, very structured – they just kept subbing on and put us under a lot of pressure. I think we can learn a lot of lessons... yes, we won on the scoreboard, but we didn't generate any corners, we gave up a lot of corners. The great thing is that we defended really well and certainly, two shots, two goals, you can't complain about that especially when they were good goals.

The contest featured a valiant defensive effort from the Cardinals who withstood a Buckeye offense which delivered 15 shots - seven of which were on target – and earned 10 penalty corners. Van der Vegt collected five stops and Sofia Pendolino picked up a defensive save to help hold Ohio State at bay.

"It was a very good game," said Plumb. "We knew that they were a very strong opponent, a tough team to play, so we were just really focused on sticking to our identity and trying to match their physicality and they really brought it today. It was a battle from start to finish. That was my first penalty stroke goal of the season, so I'm happy that I put that away... The second goal was a team goal. We've been working so hard as a team defensively and the back line and midfield line were just so good today."

In the first quarter of play, neither team was able to register a shot until a penalty stroke was awarded to Louisville in the 13^th minute of the frame. Plumb stepped up and converted on her first penalty stroke attempt of the season to put the Cards on the scoreboard.

UofL took the 1-0 lead into halftime despite the Buckeyes holding a 7-1 advantage in shots and a 3-0 edge in corners.

After regrouping during the break, Louisville opened the third quarter with a quick trip to its attacking circle. Emilia Kaczmarczyk brought the ball down to the circle and sent a feed to Roosje Neve who in turn dished a pass to the left post to find Plumb whose diving shot found the back of the cage to give Louisville a 2-0 lead.

The Buckeyes countered with under four minutes remaining in the third quarter after drawing their seventh corner of the game which resulted in a goal from Julie Rodijk to cut the lead in half.

The Cardinals' defense stood strong throughout the fourth quarter, stymying the Buckeyes who tallied three more shots and a pair of corners and goalkeeper Abby Danson in favor of an extra field player with 4:56 remaining in the game.

"I'm most happy with the third quarter, the way we came out and put them under pressure," said Sowry. "I think in the end we were a little bit lucky at absorbing all of that pressure, but at the same time, I wouldn't expect anything else, because we always have done that so well. I'm really proud of our defensive effort from top to bottom."

Louisville (5-1) will wrap up the weekend on Sunday when VCU (4-0) visits Trager Stadium for a 12 p.m. matchup.