Oct. 22, 2009

Box Score

Louisville, Kent. - It was a complete offensive display that the University of Louisville (9-7) performed against the Pacific field hockey team. The Tigers could not recover from three early first period goals and fell 6-0 Thursday afternoon on the road.

Pacific (3-9) was outshot 30-2 in the contest. The Cardinal capitalized on the first of their four first half penalty corners to open up scoring just over four minutes into play. They would then slap in two more goals by minute 12 to go ahead 3-0.

Pacific held the Cardinal at bay until late in the period when Louisville's two leading scorers, Hayley Turner and Nicole Youman, knocked in back-to-back goals. Both would finish the day with two goals apiece. Freshman Ashlee Schlesier (San Diego, Calif.) grabbed four saves off 13 shots before the break.

It was then junior goalie Christina Niccum's (Simi Valley, Calif.) turn to face the Cardinals. She came into the game at the start of the second half for her first minutes of the season since recovering from an injury. Dominating the cage, she grabbed a game-high nine saves off 17 shots. The Cardinal were held scoreless for over 34 minutes when Youman knocked in a shot off a rebounded save by Niccum with 11 seconds remaining.

The Tigers continue their tough road trip in the mid-west as they head to Indiana and face Penn State on Sat. Oct. 24. Game time is set for 9 a.m. against the Nittany Lions who are receiving votes for national ranking.