Spartans Fall to #15 Louisville in Home Opener

Sunday, September 6

East Lansing, Mich.

12 PM

Michigan State University

(2-2, 0-0B1G)

Louisville

(4-0, 0-0ACC)

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Louisville	0	1	2	1	4
Michigan St.	0	0	0	0	0

Field Hockey team lines up to defend a penalty corner against #15 Louisville

Photo by: Evan Peacock

9/6/2026 3:46:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State field hockey team dropped its home opener against No. 15-ranked Louisville on Sunday afternoon, 4-0, at Ralph Young Field.

MSU moves to 2-2 on the year, while the Cardinals improve to 4-0 following Sunday's contest.

Louisville held a 19-3 advantage in total shots, an 11-2 edge in shots on goal and a 12-2 margin in penalty corner opportunities.

Junior goalkeeper Lola Munoz de Verger and sophomore goalkeeper Catherine Wolf split the work in goal playing 30 minutes each on Sunday. Munoz de Verger made five saves for the Spartans while Wolf made one. Junior back Caro Schaefer also contributed a defensive save.

The Spartans held Louisville scoreless through the opening 15 minutes, with Wolf turning aside an early Cardinal penalty corner strike to keep the game deadlocked at 0-0. Louisville broke the tie midway through the second period when Chloe Plumb capitalized on a rebound in front of the net in the 20th minute, providing the Cardinals a 1-0 lead heading into the break.

Louisville extended their lead early in the third quarter with goals from Lauren Masters in the 31st minute and Tyler Everslage in the 37th minute. Michigan State generated its best look of the frame in the 34th minute when junior Lilian Knorr inserted a penalty corner to set up a clean shot on goal from senior Bianca Pizano.

MSU's defense faced heavy pressure in the fourth quarter, highlighted by three consecutive saves from Munoz de Verger during a Louisville corner flurry and a defensive save by Schaefer off a Cardinals strike in the 50th minute. Sophomore Nina Angeli fired a late shot wide before Schaefer inserted a 59th-minute penalty corner that produced a shot on goal from sophomore Grace Grabowski.

UP NEXT
Michigan State heads back on the road for its next contest on Friday, September 11, traveling to Kent, Ohio, to face Kent State at 2:00 p.m.