Spartans Fall Short to No. 12 Louisville

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State field hockey fell in a hard-fought battle with No. 12 Louisville, 4-1, Sunday afternoon at Ralph Young Field.

With the loss, the Spartans move to 3-1 on the season. Freshman Nienke Bloemsaat paced the Spartans with her third goal of the season. Senior Kelsey Keener and junior Cara Bonshak added an assist in the contest, their third of the season. Sophomore goalkeeper Jade Arundell collected a season-high 10 saves in net for the Spartans.

Louisville got things going in the first minute of play, when Mattie Tabor scored at the top of the cage with an assist from Madison Walsh. The Spartans answered at the 10-minute mark ,when Bloemsaat slapped in a penalty corner off a feed from Keener and Bonshak.

MSU held pace with the Cardinals in the first quarter, compiling three shots and two penalty corners. Arundell had five saves for the Spartans on 11 first half shots from the Cardinals.

The Cardinals added two goals in the third period to jump out to a 3-1 lead. Walsh recorded her second assist of the day on a pass to Margot Lawn for the score, while Carter Ayars netted a goal at the top of the cage at the 42^nd minute.

Mercedes Pastor tacked on a goal with just under a minute left in regulation to put the Cardinals up 4-1.

The Spartans will take a few days off before returning to Ralph Young Field on Friday Sept. 13 (3 p.m.) and Sunday, Sept. 15 (11 a.m.), when they take on Miami (Ohio) and UConn, respectively.

Next Event

Team Stats

Nienke Bloemsaat

Cara Bonshak

Kelsey Keener

Isa van der Weij

Players Mentioned

Jade Arundell

Nienke Bloemsaat

Cara Bonshak

Kelsey Keener

Players Mentioned

Jade Arundell

Nienke Bloemsaat

Cara Bonshak

Kelsey Keener