U-M Closes Regular Season With OT Loss to Louisville

Sunday, October 30

Ann Arbor, Mich.

1:00 PM

Michigan

(12-7)

Louisville

(14-6)

OT 2

Louisville

Michigan

10/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Leah Howard

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ocker Field)
Score: #16 Louisville 3, #11 Michigan 2 (OT)
Records: U-M (12-7), Louisville (14-6)
Next U-M Match: Friday, Nov. 4 -- at Iowa at Big Ten Tournament (Iowa City, Iowa), 12:30 p.m. CST

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team suffered a 3-2 loss in overtime against No. 16 Louisville in its final contest of the 2005 regular season Sunday (Oct. 30) at Phyllis Ocker Field. The non-conference decision halted the Wolverines' winning streak at six games.

Coming out firing after a scoreless second half, both teams traded quality scoring chances in the extra frame with Louisville owning a slight advantage in shots, 4-2. The Cardinals' Jessica Javelet notched the game-winner at the 82:38 mark during a scrum in front of the U-M cage. Junior goalkeeper Beth Riley (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area HS) made the initial save from a hard shot from the perimeter of the circle, but the Wolverines could not control the rebound as Javelet lifted the ball over a sprawling Riley to the upper right corner.

The Wolverines jumped out to an early lead as senior/junior Katie Morris (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) opened scoring just 58 seconds into the contest. Junior Kara Lentz (Manchester, Mass./St. Paul's School) initiated the play just outside the Cardinal striking circle, playing the ball deep to the front of the cage. Fighting through traffic, Morris sprinted to catch the ball, which she hammered into the lower left corner past Cardinal goalkeeper Marie-Claire Heller.

Louisville responded with back-to-back goals at 15:24 and 29:54 to gain its first lead in the match. Standing alone in the U-M circle, Casey Diener capitalized on a long feed pass from Jen Payne to send a shot past Riley to the lower right corner. After several good scoring opportunities from the Wolverines, Carrie Jackson swung the momentum back to Louisville's favor, scoring off a rebound to give the Cardinals a one-goal advantage.

Less than four minutes later, sophomore Mary Fox (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) scored off a Michigan penalty corner opportunity to knot the score a 2-2 heading into the halftime intermission. Lentz took the hard direct shot from the top of the circle, and Fox got her stick on it from in front of the Cardinal cage, redirecting the ball to the lower corner.

Michigan just narrowly outshot the Cardinals 18-17 but registered a dominant advantage in penalty corners, 14-3. Riley tallied nine saves in the U-M cage, while Louisville's Heller made six stops on Michigan's nine shots on goal.

The Wolverines will kick off the 2005 Big Ten Tournament on Friday (Nov. 4) at Grant Field in Iowa City, Iowa. Seeded fourth in the annual conference tournament, Michigan will open first-round competition against host Iowa, the No. 5 seed, at 12:30 p.m. CST.

MATCH SUMMARY

Team	1	2	OT	F
Louisville	2	0	1	3
Michigan	2	0	0	2

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Katie Morris, 0:58 (Kara Lentz)
1st -- UL, Casey Diener, 15:24 (Jen Payne)
1st -- UL, Carrie Jackson, 29:54 (unassisted)
1st -- U-M, Mary Fox, 33:14 (Lentz)
OT -- UL, Jessica Javelet, 82:38 (unassisted)

Shots: U-M 18, UL 17
Saves: U-M 9 (Beth Riley), UL 6 (Marie-Claire Heller)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, UL 1
Penalty Corners: U-M 14, Iowa 3

NOTES

• Michigan's loss to Louisville was its first in the all-time series against the Cardinals, dropping the Wolverines' advantage to 5-1.

• Prior to the start of the game, Michigan field hockey honored its senior class -- Lori Hillman, Nicole Lonsway, Lauren MacMillan, Katie Morris and Catherine Pickard -- with a brief ceremony.

• The Wolverines also honored long-time field hockey umpire Cheryl Bruttomesso, who called her final game today after 21 years of officiating. Bruttomesso chose Michigan and Phyllis Ocker Field to be her final game.

• Senior/junior Katie Morris' goal at the 0:58 mark was the Wolverines' quickest tally of the season.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Nancy Cox
On the game ... "We just didn't finish our opportunities. When you have 14 corners to their three, and you're counting on finishing a minimum of 30 percent of your corners, we didn't get the job done today on our penalty corner opportunities. That was the difference in the game. It was even in shots across, but we just didn't get the job done on corners. There were moments when we played great possession hockey, but our finishers just didn't get it done. We had a number of chances today to the weak-side forward on the post, and our kids were swinging, and they just should have had their sticks down. We made it much harder on ourselves today than we needed to. We should have won that game."

On Louisville ... "We have to give credit to the Louisville kids. They played Iowa yesterday and played Michigan today, and they swept the Big Ten this weekend. Good for them. Those kids and that team has the mentality that it doesn't matter who their foe is, they're going to step out and win the match. They played a nice match."

On what Michigan will take from this game ... "Our kids know how to win closely contested matches. We had that UConn overtime match, we had this overtime match, and we didn't win this one, but we know how to compete in them. What we need to take away from this weekend, and what we need to work on this week, is the ability to finish it. When the ball is sitting on the doorstep, that is your job as an attacker."

U-M Senior/Junior Katie Morris
On her goal ... "One of our team goals was to come out with intensity right away. I was really proud of us for bringing that mentality; we carried that over from the Iowa match. I think the goal came off an insertion from the top, and a rebound came out. It was just laying there, and I just shot it. I think I caught the goalie off guard. It was a lucky shot -- not too hard, just a quick shot from the circle."

On next weekend's Big Ten Tournament ... "Our defense is winning games for us right now. We finally sorted some stuff out, and they are just relentless. We're excited to solidify our defensive play and bring that to the tournament. I think people are finally starting to get comfortable in their positions. Chemistry is really going, and you're going to know where your teammates are now. I think that was evident in our passing patterns today and the other day against Iowa. We're going to use this game to build, and we're excited to go into the tournament. It brings a little adversity, but we're still as confident as ever."

On playing her final game at Ocker Field ... "It is hard, because you love Michigan and it's such an amazing place to be. Walking out on the turf and realizing it's the last time they'll call your name out here, it's hard, but the minute the whistle blows, it's just another game that we're trying to win to improve on our season. We had a lot of fun pregame, and emotions were running a little high, but I'm really proud of the effort today from every senior. They led well today."