University of Albany Field Hockey Blanks #10 Louisville On Senior Day - UAlbany Sports 2018

Frederike Helmke’s second half goal lifted the twenty second-ranked UAlbany field hockey team to a 1-0 victory against No.10 Louisville Sunday afternoon at Alumni Turf.

 With the win their home finale, the Great Danes improve to 12-3 overall and 9-0 in friendly confines. The Cardinals drop to 12-5 with the loss. Goalkeeper Melissa Nealon, who earned her second consecutive blank sheet, now stands alone in fourth place in UAlbany history with 12 career shutouts and 22 career wins.

 Helmke’s game-winning goal came in the 50th minute after UAlbany earned a penalty corner. Junior Viola von der Muhlen got the play started with a feed to Helmke who fired a shot into the right side of the cage. After notched her fourth goal in as many games, the senior is posting a career high eight goals on the season.

 The Great Danes victory was the result of an evenly-played tilt which saw the two squads battle to a 0-0 stalemate at the break. UAlbany held a slight 4-2 shot advantage in the half but neither team's defense would break. Coming out of the half, the teams continued to play a midfield game throughout the next 15 minutes of the half and the Great Danes began to gain some momentum, earning a pair of penalty corners.

On their second attempt the Great Danes capitalized to break open the scoring and take a 1-0 lead after Helmke’s shot glanced off the Louisville goalkeeper’s pad. The Cardinals looked to increase their offense when they added an extra attacker in the final two minutes of regulation, however the squad was unable to capitalize. UAlbany’s Kelsey McCrudden was able to gain possession in the final seconds and run out the clock to secure the team’s statement win.