Michigan converted just one of its 24 corner opportunities on Sunday.

Luckily, that was all the Wolverines needed in 1-0 home victory over No. 11 Louisville.

With less than four minutes left in regulation, senior tri-captain Mary Fox took her 24th corner of the day. And as Louisville (4-3) swarmed senior tri-captain Kara Lentz, junior Ashley Lennington was left wide open.

"We pulled the corner, and I knew it was going to come to me," Lennington said. "I saw the ball coming, and I kept my stick steady and just tipped it in and started celebrating."

Michigan (4-5) spent the whole weekend beating Cardinals, from both Ball State and Louisville.

On Friday, the Wolverines won a 6-1 laugher. Just seven minutes into the game, Michigan led 2-0 thanks to two goals from junior forward Lucia Belassi. Senior goalkeeper Beth Riley was not pressured, and many of the team's newest members were able to get some game experience in the second half.

The Wolverines came into Sunday confident, but not overconfident - not after watching Louisville beat Ball State 9-0 on Saturday.

Michigan dominated the first half, picking up where it left off against Ball State. Louisville started with the ball, but about five seconds later freshman Paige Laytos stole it away. The Wolverines continually attacked the Louisville goal but came up with nothing to show for it.

"We had been in the circle so many different times, that I knew one of these times it had to go in," Riley said. "(After halftime) we had the mindset that we were the ones down by a goal, and that we had to step up in the second half more than normal."

Louisville came on strong in the second half, but the Wolverines proved themselves equal to the challenge, especially Riley. The senior came up big, blocking shot after shot and making five sparkling saves. Both goalies brought their A-games-Cox described Louisville's Marie-Claire Heller as "standing on top of her helmet" to make some of her ten saves. Michigan out-shot Louisville 25-11.

After a tough beginning to the season, Michigan is starting to click as a team as the Big Ten season opener against Iowa approaches.

"They're getting healthy, they're getting confident, and we're able to play 70 minutes (of quality field hockey)," Cox said

Last week, for the first time since Cox has been affiliated with the Michigan field hockey program, the team fell out of the top-20 ranked teams. But with these two victories, Michigan should be back in a good position to start the Big Ten season.

The win over a tough team like Louisville will pay dividends later in the year.

"Our kids knew what they needed to do to put us back on the map, and they succeeded in doing that today," Cox said. "It was most important for that victory, because any time you defeat a team that's ranked higher than you, and they're in your region, that looks really good for postseason play."

This weekend, the Wolverines proved to themselves that they can compete with top-notch teams. The next test of their newfound confidence, health and camaraderie will come next Friday, when they travel to Iowa for their Big Ten season opener.