The No. 8 MSU field hockey team travels to the site of the 2002 Final Four to lock horns with stiff competition in Kentucky this weekend.
Facing No. 12 Louisville today, the Spartans hope to have better luck than last time they were on the field - a season-ending 3-0 loss to National Champion Wake Forest.
Senior back Alexandra Kyser, while aspiring to surpass her previous game total of two strikes, said the Cardinals will be anything but easy.
"We take things one game at a time and every game's our biggest game," she said. "They have incredible defense, I think this is one of our toughest matches this year."
Though the Cardinals return 15 letterwinners to a squad that finished with a 13-8 overall record and 11th-place national ranking, they have yet to adjust to the loss of their top playmaker to graduation, all-American midfielder Pip Sanders. Louisville has posted a 2-2 record this season, dropping a 3-1 decision to No. 6 Old Dominion and a 2-1 overtime loss to No. 17 Boston. The Cardinals' victories have come in a 2-1 match with No. 18 William & Mary and a 5-0 battering of an unranked Massachusetts squad.
"Louisville is a very defensive team," MSU head coach Michele Madison said. "They're big, strong and low. Our attack has to be on.
"It's going to be a tough game, we have to be ready and have to be on all week."
MSU, which defeated Louisville 4-2 in the last meeting Oct. 13, is 3-0 all-time against Louisville.
On Saturday, the Spartans face off against Southwest Missouri State. The Bears have struggled to start the season, posting a 1-2 record. Both losses were shutouts, but in their lone win, the Bears outshot their competition 43-8.
Spartan sophomore goalkeeper Christina Kirkaldy said MSU knows little about its Saturday opponent since the last meeting between the two was in 1993. Kirkaldy also said MSU is still working on intra-squad improvements, herself included, after a setback to No. 2 North Carolina in which the Tar Heels tallied three with Kirkaldy in the cage.
"We don't really focus too much on the other team," she said. "I've definitely learned from the game, and even though we lost, I had fun.
"I look at everything leading up to (the goals), and how I can fix it for next time. I question everything and then ask the coaches - they're pretty good at telling me things."
