By Dalton Ray–
On a weekend in which most sporting events in Louisville were canceled, the women’s lacrosse game was not. The number-13 Cardinals took on the traveling Canisius Golden Griffins in less than ideal conditions and won 15-3. Senior Faye Brust and junior Cortnee Daley both scored four goals in the victory.
The Cards seemed to be affected by the cold and rainy weather in the first half, as they were ahead just 5-3. Canisius was building momentum, heading into the half after scoring two late goals. Two goals by Louisville’s Daley, in addition to another by fellow junior Kaylin Morissette, gave U of L a 3-0 lead, but Canisius wouldn’t go away just yet. Tori Quinn scored two of the Griffins’ three points, and they pulled within one point after sophomore Hannah Koloski’s goal. Brust scored off an assist from Daley, giving Louisville a two-score advantage before the half.
Sophomore Hannah Koloski later described shaking off the sluggish start.
“It was hard starting off. I think the weather might have been a reason behind that. The second half we started to get our passes up and started focusing on our shots more. We really came ready to play in the second half,” Koloski said.
After out-shooting Canisius 17-10 in the first half, the Cardinals really started to dig in and put the Griffins away. In the first seven minutes of the second half, Brust, Daley and Morissette scored again, along with sophomore Heidi Smith’s first career goal. After jumping up 9-3, Louisville began to just pour it on. Daley and Morissette added another goal, which gave Morissette three for the match. Koloski added another two scores giving her three total goals as well.
“Whenever we start scoring, we just wanted to keep the ball rolling. Our defense was stopping all their takes and we just wanted to keep going. We’re good on both sides of the field. The defense is young but playing very well and the attack is working well with each other,” Koloski noted on the second half performance.
Daley, Brust, Koloski and Morissette were just too much for the Golden Griffins to handle. Defense was the real reason why the Cards pulled away and sophomore goalkeeper Ashley Peacock notched her second win on the year. Peacock saved ten shots as U of L outshot Canisius 42-20.
Senior Faye Brust became just the sixth player in the program’s history to score 100 goals after Saturday’s match.
The team is now 2-0 and heads to Denver, Colorado next Saturday to face number-18 Denver.
Louisville’s next two home matches are Mar. 4 against Duquesne and Mar. 7 versus William & Mary.
