LOUISVILLE, Ken. -- The Fairfield University field hockey team completed its weekend road trip against nationally-ranked teams with a 5-0 setback against fourth-ranked University of Louisville on Sunday afternoon. The Stags also played 24th-ranked Miami University one day earlier, sending the team to two road games in 24 hours.

Fairfield played the Cardinals evenly during the first quarter, keeping the home team in check for nearly the entire period. Each team had an opportunity in the first five minutes of the game with Louisville putting the first shot of the match on target. The home team gained the scoring chance when Aimee Plumb released a shot inside the circle that Payton Rahn was able to kick away.

A couple of minutes later, the Stags secured their first offensive threat when they earned a penalty corner in the sixth minute. Pilar Mengotti received the ball off the insertion and put a shot on target that was stopped by the goalkeeper.

Louisville would gain three more shots in the opening quarter, all of which came in a three-minute stretch starting in the 11th minute. The first two shots were a result of the first penalty corner while the third came following a second corner. The last shot of the sequence resulted in the game's first goal when Plumb converted a pass off the inserted balla that beat the goalkeeper to the near corner.

The second quarter saw Louisville take eight shots with seven of those attempts being on goal. Goalkeeper Payton Rahn was able to turn aside five of those shots but the Cardinals did manage to push two of those shots past the goalkeeper to send the home team into the locker room with a 3-0 edge. The team's first shot resulted in a goal when Julie Koujzer found the back of the cage with a shot to the far corner. The second goal of the quarter came at the hands of Mattie Tabor, who collected a rebound off an initial save by Rahn and send the ball back toward goal with less than five minutes remaining in the half.

The Cardinals continued to work their way around the circle during the third quarter which resulted in the team's fourth goal of the game. Tabor once again secured a rebound when she found the loose ball after Rahn made a save on Katie Schneider's shot and pushed the ball into the net. The team closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter with a goal just three minutes into the period as Tabor finished with her third goal of the game in the 48th minute.

Rahn finished the game with a season-high 10 saves this afternoon, making seven of those stops in the first half highlighted by her five stops in the second quarter. The Stags managed to take four shots in the game with one requiring a goalkeeper intervention.

Fairfield will return to University Field for its next game when it hosts Yale University on Sunday, September 25. The match is slated for a 1 pm start.