No. 10 Field Hockey Set for NCAA
November 14, 2014 | Field Hockey
The University of Louisville field hockey team will travel to Storrs, Conn., to face Stanford in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Field Hockey Championship Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. Host, third-ranked Connecticut earned the overall No. 3 seed in the tournament and will take on Kent State on Nov. 15 at 11:30 a.m. The winners of the first round games will meet on Sunday, Nov. 16 to determine who will advance to the NCAA semifinals which will take place in College Park, Md., Nov. 21 and 23.
Click here to watch Louisville vs. Stanford in the first round of the NCAA tournament
Click here for the NCAA Field Hockey online program
Cardinal Quick Hits
• The Cards completed their inaugural ACC season with a 3-3 mark in league play and tied for third in the final regular season standings. After a tiebreaker that came down to goal differential, UofL was the No. 5 seed in the ACC Championship.
• Louisville enters the week ranked No. 10 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll released on Nov. 11. This marks UofL's sixth week in the top 10 after reaching the highest ranking of the season at No. 5 on Oct. 7.
• Junior Elisa Garcia stands atop the Louisville scoring leaders with 25 points (6G, 13A). Seniors Alyssa Voelmle (10G, 4A) and Mallory Mason (7G, 10A) follow closely with 24 points. Junior Sydney King (15-5) carries a 1.27 goals-against average and six shutouts on the season.
• The Cardinals have won five of their last six games.
• Louisville has 15 wins on the season, matching the 2013 total. The school record for wins in a season is 16 - set in 2001.
Louisville against the field
Stanford
Saturday, Nov. 15, Storrs, Conn. - 2 p.m.
Series Record: Louisville leads 4-1
Last Meeting: Nov. 1, 2009- Louisville won 4-1 in a neutral site matchup in College Park Md.
Scouting the Cardinal: No. 8 Stanford (18-2) earned an at-large bid to the 2014 NCAA Field Hockey Championships after falling in the NorPac Tournament Championship to Liberty, 1-0. The loss snapped a 12-game win streak for the Cardinal. In the streak, Stanford scored a total of 36 goals while only allowing ten. Stanford will be making their 13th NCAA Tournament appearance.
• Alex McCawley leads the Cardinal offensively with 14 goals with Lauren Becker adding nine goals on the season. Maddie Secco adds 20 points, with six goals and eight assists. Goalkeeper Dulcie Davies, the NorPac Defensive Player of the Year leads the nation with a 0.71 goals against average and a .776 save percentage.
CARDINAL CONNECTION UofL head coach Justine Sowry was an assistant at Stanford during the 2003 season.
Connecticut
Series Record: Connecticut leads 15-2
Last Meeting: Oct. 11, 2013- Connecticut won 6-0 in Storrs. Louisville's last win over the Huskies came on Oct. 2, 2010 with a 3-2 overtime decision at Trager Stadium.
Scouting the Huskies: 2013 NCAA Champion and former BIG EAST rival, No. 3 Connecticut comes into the first round with the #3 overall seed after winning the BIG EAST Tournament Championship 4-1 over Temple. Connecticut (16-2), who is currently on a 10-game win streak, will be making their 13th straight NCAA Tournament appearance when they face Kent St. on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
• Offensively, the Huskies have a balanced attack with six players who have scored at least six or more goals on the season. BIG EAST Rookie of the Year Charlotte Veitner leads the team with 13 goals, while adding 11 assists. Anna Middendorf adds nine goals and eight assists. BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Roisin Upton has contributed six goals.
NOTE: The bulk series between Louisville and UConn spans from 2005-13 when both teams were members of the BIG EAST Conference.
Kent State
Series Record: Kent State leads 23-10; Louisville has won past five meetings.
Last Meeting: Nov. 3, 2013- Louisville won 6-0 at Trager Stadium.
Scouting the Golden Flashes: Kent State will be making their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance as they earned an automatic bid by winning the MAC Tournament Championship, 2-0 over Ohio. The Golden Flashes (11-10) defeated Delaware 2-1 in a play-in game on Wednesday.
• The Golden Flashes are led by Hannah Faulkner who has scored 20 goals and chipped eight assists for 48 points. n. Julia Hofmann contributes 10 goals and 12s assists for the team.
NOTE: Louisville and Kent State were rivals in the Mid-American Conference from 1994-2004.
Last time out
No. 11 Wake Forest 2 - No. 8 Louisville 1
Wake Forest scored two second-half goals to take a 2-0 lead. Louisville cut the lead to one with a goal from Erin McCrudden, but fell short in a 2-1 loss in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship.
Louisville ranked No. 10 in NFHCA poll
The University of Louisville field hockey team is ranked 10th in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll released on Nov. 11. The Cardinals dropped two spots from last week after a 2-1 loss to Wake Forest in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship.
• The Cards are in their sixth straight week of being ranked in the top 10. Prior to this year, Louisville was last ranked in the top 10 in the 2010 season when the team reached as high as No. 8 and spent six weeks in the top 10.
• On Oct. 7, Louisville appeared at No. 5 in the coaches' poll marking the second top-five appearance in program history with Louisville achieving a program-best No. 4 ranking in the 2002 season.
• All seven ACC teams are ranked in the top 15 this week, including five squads in the top 10 led by North Carolina at No. 1. It marks the 22nd straight poll that every active ACC team has been ranked, dating back to October of 2012.
UofL No. 12 in RPI
The Cardinals are currently 12th in the NCAA RPI, released on Nov. 10 - down one spot from last week's 11th place standing. Louisville has a 4-3 record against teams currently in the top 11:
#1 North Carolina - UL won 3-2
#4 Syracuse - UL lost 3-1
#5 Wake Forest - UL won 2-1/OT; and lost 2-1
#9 Duke - UL won 2-1
#10 Boston College - UL lost 2-1/OT
#11 Michigan - UL won 2-1/2OT
The ACC in the NCAA
Six ACC field hockey teams earned bids to the 2014 NCAA Field Hockey Championship, announced Sunday night by the NCAA Field Hockey committee. The league claimed five of the eight at-large spots in the tournament and two of the four host sites were awarded to ACC programs.
• North Carolina earned the top overall seed and will host first and second round games. Syracuse was also selected as a host site and enters the field as the No. 4 seed. Wake Forest clinched the league's automatic berth by winning the ACC Championship, while Boston College, Duke, and Louisville claimed at-large bids and will begin tournament play on the road.
• The announcement marks the second-straight year that at least six ACC teams have earned a postseason bid, while at least half of the league has claimed a tournament spot for 20 straight years.
• The ACC has made up at least half of the national semifinals for 14 straight years. The ACC has produced the national championship team in 10 of the last 12 years and 17 times overall.
Voelmle and Monsen earn All-ACC honors
Seniors Alyssa Voelmle and Paige Monsen earned 2014All-ACC Field Hockey honors as announced by ACC Commissioner John Swofford. The accolades are voted on by the league's seven head coaches. Voelmle was selected to the first team while Monsen was named to the second team.
• Voelmle, a defender from Hershey, Pa., leads the team with 10 goals on the season. This marks her fourth all-conference selection after earning All-BIG EAST honors her first three years. Last season, she was named to NFHCA All-West Region first team. • Monsen, a midfielder from Marathon, N.Y. is a three-year starter with eight assists on the season.
How the Cards stack up nationally
As of Nov. 10, UofL stands among the nation's leaders in several categories including: winning percentage (7th - 0.750), 12th in goals-against average (1.35) save percentage (.767) and scoring margin (1.40) The Cards rank 13th in shutouts per game (0.30), points per game (8.05) and assists per game (2.42); 16th in goals per game (2.85); and 17th in scoring average (2.74).
• Sydney King is 7th in save percentage (0.776) and 12th in goals against average (1.27) while Elisa Garcia is 16th in assists per game (0.65).
Voelmle selected to play in NFHCA Division I Senior Game
• Alyssa Voelmle has been selected to play in the 2014 Victory Sports Tours/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Senior Game which will take place on Saturday, November 22 at the University of Maryland at 3 p.m.
• The four-year starter has led the team offensively the past two seasons. She is seventh on Louisville's list for career goals with 29 and stands tied for eighth with 70 career points.
• The four-time all-conference selection was also named to the conference all-tournament team twice and earned All-West Region first team honors in 2013.
You've got to play the best
The Cardinals are in the midst of the toughest sschedule in program history. This season, they are 7-5 against opponents currently ranked in the top 20 with wins over (then) No. 1 North Carolina, No. 4 Duke, No. 14 Northwestern, No. 15 Michigan, No. 16 Wake Forest and No. 19 Indiana (3-0) and No. 19 Michigan State (2-1). Their losses came to (then-No. 9) Virginia (3-2 in 2OT), No. 13 Syracuse (3-1) and No. 17 Boston College (2-1/OT) and No. 11 Wake Forest (2-1) and a 2-1 setback to Liberty which recently entered the rankings at No. 20.
Home Sweet Home
The Cardinals finished the 2014 season with an 8-1 record at Trager Stadium in 2014. On Oct. 17, Louisville fell 2-1 in overtime to No. 17 Boston College, snapped a 16 -game home victory streak dating back to the 2012 season. In 2013, UofL posted a perfect 10-0 record at Trager Stadium, going undefeated at home for the first time in school history.
• Prior to the Boston College loss, the Cards' last home loss came on Nov. 2, 2012 when they fell 2-1 in overtime to then-No. 5 Connecticut in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship.
Balanced Attack
The Cardinals have outscored opponents 57-28 on the season with senior Alyssa Voelmle's 10 goals leading the way. Senior Mallory Mason and sophomore Lotta Kahlert follow with seven goals apiece while senior Becca Maddock, junior Elisa Garcia and sophomore Shannon Sloss each has six. Overall, 13 players have scored for UofL with 11 of those players recording multiple goals.
Bonus Field Hockey
The Cardinals have gone in to overtime five times this season - including two games that ended in a second OT period. UofL owns a 3-2 record in those games. Below is a breakdown of Louisville's overtime results in 2014:
Sept. 12 - @#9 Virginia - L, 2-3/2OT
Sept. 14 - @ William & Mary - W, 2-1/OT
Sept. 26 - @#16 Wake Forest - W, 2-1/OT
Oct. 5 - vs. #15 Michigan - W, 2-1/2OT
Oct. 17 - vs. #17 Boston College - L, 1-2/OT
Senior Salute
On Oct. 24, Louisville celebrated senior day with a 3-0 win over UC Davis. The senior class of 2014 consists of Hannah Boyle, Becca Maddock, Mallory Mason, Rachel McCarthy, Paige Monsen and Alyssa Voelmle. As a group, they have registered 52 wins while compiling a 32-6 record at Trager Stadium - including an 18-1 mark the past two seasons.
• The senior class has spent the past two years ranked among the top 20 teams in the nation and are in their sixth straight week in the top 10 after reaching as high as No. 5 on Oct. 7.
• They played an integral part in winning a share of the 2013 BIG EAST regular season championship and have led the transition into the ACC this season with wins over conference powers top-ranked North Carolina, 2013 national-runner up Duke and three-time national champion Wake Forest.
Sowry reaches century mark
On Sept. 14, the Cardinals defeated William & Mary 4-3 in overtime to give head coach Justine Sowry her 100th career win (in her ninth season). She has led Louisville to a 52-27 record while in her fourth season at the helm.
Voelmle leaving her mark in the record book
Four-time all-conference selection senior Alyssa Voelmle currently has 29 career goals to place her seventh on Louisville's all-time list. She needs three more to tie Olivia Netzler (2001-03) for sixth place.
• She also has 70 career points and stands tied for eighth on UofL's career list. She needs three more points to tie Pip Sanders (1999-02) for seventh place.
• Jessica Javelet (2003-06) holds the all-time record for goals (69) and points (176).
Garcia, Monsen, Mason move up in career assists
• Junior Elisa Garcia currently leads the Cardinals with 13 assists placing her tied for fourth on Louisville's single-season list. She needs one more to move into a three-way tie for second with Jessica Javelet (2005) and Nicole Youman (2009). Youman set the school record with 19 assists in 2010.
• Garcia is also tied for sixth on the school's all-time list with 28 career assists. Garcia needs one more to tie Janelle Avila's (2003-06) fifth-place total of 29.
• Senior Paige Monsen led the Cards in assists in 2013 and is currently eighth on Louisville's all-time list with 27.
• Senior Mallory Mason has moved into Louisville's top 10 career assist leaders, standing at No. 10 with 21 assists.
• Nicole Youman (2007-10) owns UofL's assist record with 52.
King in the cage
Junior goalkeeper Sydney King carries a 1.27 goals-against average and has six shutouts on the season, placing her tied for sixth on Louisville's single season list. She has only allowed three goals in the last six games.
