Louisville's field hockey team headed down to Durham, North Carolina on Thursday afternoon to prep for their Friday game, and, unlike the football team, their bus didn't get stuck in a ditch en route. The Cards' trip to take on Pam Bustin's team is always a nail-biter due to the familiarity between the teams, and this matchup was no different.
Duke, while ranked 18th, is having a bit of a down year. The loss yesterday dropped them to 3-5 and they've opened the season 0-2 in conference play. Whether they remain ranked next week will be an interesting question, but the less than stellar start to the season didn't knock them out of yesterday's game
Louisville dominated this one offensively, but Piper Hampsch was excellent between the pipes for the Blue Devils. The Cards got to Hampsch early, as they converted their first penalty corner in just the fourth minute of the match, but that would (obviously) be their only goal. This goal started like many others off of corners so far this season, with Alli Bitting playing the ball in to Charlie van Oirschot. Unlike some plays, this one was not a shot for van Oirschot. She stopped it cleanly and got out of the way for Julie Kouijzer to step up and slam the shot into the left side of the cage. It was Kouijzer's third goal of the year and would prove to be her first game-winning goal this season.
While Louisville only scored one goal, this was a much more impressive offensive showing than some of the Cards' recent matches. Usually it is extremely disappointing to have such a low corner conversion rate (1 of 7), but, in this case, it seems forgivable given the great effort by Piper Hampsch. Hampsch finished with seven saves, while Louisville put eight of their nine shots on frame. Kouijzer had four of those nine shots, with three on frame. As she has been typically, Mila de Kuijer was strong in goal for UofL, though she was hardly tested, with just the one Duke shot on goal
We're still monitoring Sam Minrath's potential return, but it will be an interesting deecision for Coach Justine Sowry if and when she's available.
The Cards go on the road, on Monday. They'll travel to Columbus to take on Ohio State.
--sonja--
Duke, while ranked 18th, is having a bit of a down year. The loss yesterday dropped them to 3-5 and they've opened the season 0-2 in conference play. Whether they remain ranked next week will be an interesting question, but the less than stellar start to the season didn't knock them out of yesterday's game
Louisville dominated this one offensively, but Piper Hampsch was excellent between the pipes for the Blue Devils. The Cards got to Hampsch early, as they converted their first penalty corner in just the fourth minute of the match, but that would (obviously) be their only goal. This goal started like many others off of corners so far this season, with Alli Bitting playing the ball in to Charlie van Oirschot. Unlike some plays, this one was not a shot for van Oirschot. She stopped it cleanly and got out of the way for Julie Kouijzer to step up and slam the shot into the left side of the cage. It was Kouijzer's third goal of the year and would prove to be her first game-winning goal this season.
While Louisville only scored one goal, this was a much more impressive offensive showing than some of the Cards' recent matches. Usually it is extremely disappointing to have such a low corner conversion rate (1 of 7), but, in this case, it seems forgivable given the great effort by Piper Hampsch. Hampsch finished with seven saves, while Louisville put eight of their nine shots on frame. Kouijzer had four of those nine shots, with three on frame. As she has been typically, Mila de Kuijer was strong in goal for UofL, though she was hardly tested, with just the one Duke shot on goal
We're still monitoring Sam Minrath's potential return, but it will be an interesting deecision for Coach Justine Sowry if and when she's available.
The Cards go on the road, on Monday. They'll travel to Columbus to take on Ohio State.
--sonja--
