Field Hockey Earns NCAA At-Large Bid
November 11, 2008 | Field Hockey
Nov. 11, 2008
The University of Louisville field hockey team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and will travel to East Lansing, Mich., to face Iowa on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 11:30 a.m. The other first round game in the region features host Michigan State and North Carolina.
The winners of the first round games will play on Sunday at 2 p.m. to determine who will advance to the NCAA Field Hockey Semifinals which will be held at Louisville's Trager Stadium on Nov. 21. The national championship game will take place on Nov. 23 at 1 p.m. (Live - CBS College Sports Network).
"My first reaction was relief to finally see Louisville's name on the bracket after being so close in the past," said U of L head coach Pam Bustin. "I just have an overwhelming feeling of pride that this team made it happen under the leadership of our lone senior Lauren Schaefer who - after three years of sitting on the outside - kept this team on track so tonight would be different. We are all excited to know that the final destination is right back here where we started."
Louisville is making its second NCAA tournament appearance in program history. The Cards earned their first automatic berth after winning the 2003 Mid-American Conference Tournament - U of L was sent to Michigan State, where they lost 2-0 to the host Spartans on Nov. 15, 2003.
The 13th-ranked Cardinals (14-6) secured a share of the 2008 BIG EAST regular season title with a 5-1 conference record and earned the No. 2 seed in the league tournament where they fell 4-1 to host Connecticut. The Huskies and BIG EAST tournament champion Syracuse are also in the 16 team NCAA tournament field, marking the first time three league teams have been selected.
Sixth-ranked Iowa (16-4) is the top seed in the region and the fourth overall seed in the tournament. The teams have already met once this season with the Hawkeyes beating the Cards 1-0 on Sept. 26 at Trager Stadium. Lauren Pfeiffer scored the only goal of the game for Iowa and Louisville goalkeeper Heather Bustanoby picked up 10 saves.
NCAA Interactive Bracket | Complete NCAA Bracket in PDF Format 
