Kent State University
University of Louisville
Flashes Battle No. 7 Louisville Down to the Wire in 3-2 Loss
10/16/2016 3:56:00 PM | Field Hockey
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kent State (9-6) got out to an early 2-0 lead against No. 7 Louisville (13-3) on Sunday, but could not hold off the Cardinals as the Flashes fell 3-2.
Despite the hard-fought loss, Kent State had something to smile about after the game as the team clinched at least a share of the 2016 Mid-American Conference regular season title because of an Ohio loss to Longwood.
Louisville got off some early shots on corner opportunities, but the Kent State defense and four early saves from Andrea Rinehart kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard at the onset.
On a corner of their own 22 minutes in, Ines Delpech wound up and found the back of the net with assists from Silvia Figa Malgosa and Jessica Nesbitt.
Momentum stayed with the Golden Flashes as only about three minutes later Alison Harmatz set up Laila Richter for a tally and a 2-0 Kent State lead.
Before the halftime horn the Cardinals were able to get closer to the lead as they scored on a penalty corner to make it a 2-1 game at the half.
The game became tied at the 48:39 mark as Kent State was intercepted and Louisville took advantage of a one-on-one situation.
After a KSU timeout, the Flashes had three great shots on a corner opportunity but the Louisville keeper came up big with some tough saves.
It would remain a tied game until the Cardinals were able to score with less than eight minutes left in the match on a penalty corner.
Stats were fairly even between the two teams as Louisville had the slight 17-14 in shots and 12-9 advantage in corners. Both teams had 11 shots on goal. Delpech led the Flashes with five shots while Richter had three. Rinehart finished with eight saves in net.
Kent State will have a chance to clinch an outright MAC Championship in its next contest as the team travels to Ohio for a 3 p.m. game on Friday.
