No. 8 Field Hockey Set for Central Michigan

The eighth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team will play host to Central Michigan in a non-conference matchup Sunday at 1 p.m. at Trager Stadium. Admission is free.

• Louisville will hold a free youth clinic prior to Sunday's game. Kids ages 12 and under are invited to the clinic which will take place from 11 -11:40 a.m.

• In conjunction with ACC Sportsmanship Week, Louisville and Central Michigan will participate in a pregame handshake prior to Sunday's game. Now in its sixth year, ACC Sportsmanship Weeks are a campaign to emphasize and promote sportsmanship as it relates to the league's schools, coaches, student-athletes and fans.

Cardinal Quick Hits:
• Louisville (10-5, 1-5 ACC) is ranked No. 8 in the most recent NFHCA Coaches Poll released on Oct. 20.
• The Cardinals are led offensively by sophomore Nicole Woods who has 16 points (6G, 4A), fellow sophomore Stephanie Byrne has seven goals and 14 points on the season.
• Freshman goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran (10-5) carries a 1.23 goals against average with league-best seven shutouts in 15 games.
• Senior Elisa Garcia needs three more points to move into a tie for seventh on the school's career points list and three more assists to move to into a tie for third on the all-time assist list.

Last weekend: The Cardinals went 2-0 on the road last weekend, defeating No. 13 Boston College 3-2 and Northeastern 1-0.
#9 Louisville 3 - #13 Boston College 2
Sophomore Nicole Woods scored a pair of goals to help the ninth-ranked Cardinals overcome a 2-0 deficit and beat No. 13 Boston College 3-2 in the Cardinals' ACC regular season finale Friday afternoon at BC's Field Hockey Complex.
In the game, Louisville outshot Boston College 14-8 while the Eagles held a 6-3 advantage in corners. McFerran (9-5) had four saves while Leah Settipane (7-7) had eight for BC.

#9 Louisville 1- Northeastern 0
Junior Lotta Kahlert scored the only goal of the game and freshman Ayeisha McFerran posted her seventh shutout of the season as the ninth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team defeated Northeastern 1-0 Sunday afternoon at Dedham Field.

Up Next: The Cardinals will wrap up the regular season with a pair of home games next weekend. Louisville will take on Michigan State on Friday at 6 p.m. and the Cards will celebrate senior day Sunday when Rutgers visits Trager Stadium for a 1 p.m. matchup.

Cards against the opponents
Central Michigan
Series Record: CMU leads 17-12
Last Meeting: Sept. 14, 2012 - Louisville won 3-2 in double-overtime in a neutral site match at Michigan State.
Recapping the 2012 matchup: Sophomore Alyssa Voelmle's goal in double overtime lifted the University of Louisville field hockey team to a 3-2 win over Central Michigan in the first game of the Auto Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational.
•After Abby Roth gave the Chippewas a 1-0 lead, Elisa Garcia put the Cardinals on the scoreboard to even the score. Mary Alice Moore put CMU back on top, but Becca Maddock pulled Cards even at 2-2.
Scouting the Chippewas: Central Michigan brings a 1-13 overall record into the weekend prior to a Mid-American Conference game at Miami (Ohio) on Saturday. The Chippewas are coming off of a 4-0 loss to No. 14 Michigan State, but prior to that, defeated Missouri State 1-0 in double-overtime.
• Kaysie Gregory leads the Chippewas with seven goals and 16 points. Goalkeeper Sadie Lynn Reynolds carries a 5.17 goals-against average.

Louisville ranked No. 9 in NFHCA poll
The University of Louisville field hockey team is ranked No. 9 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA National Coaches Poll released on Oct. 13. The Cards moved up two spots after falling 2-1 to top-ranked Syracuse and beating Ohio State 1-0. This marks the fourth week Louisville has appeared in the top 10. The Cards opened the 2015 season at No. 12.
• This marks the 27th straight week the Cardinals have appeared in the top 20 rankings dating back to the 2013 season. The Cards finished 2014 ranked 10th in the final poll. Last season, Louisville spent six weeks in the top 10.
• On Oct. 7, 2014, 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 were included in the NFHCA's top 13. It marks the 31st consecutive poll that the entire league has been ranked, a streak dating back to October 2012.

Louisville among nation's leaders (Part 2)
The Cardinals rank among the top 25 in shutouts per game (4th/0.47), penalty corners per game (18th/7.13), goals against average (10th/1.27), save percentage (23rd/.736), scoring margin (25th/.87)
• Freshman goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran is No. 10 with a 1.26 goals against average. Her .733 save percentage stands at No. 20 in the nation.

Balanced attack
The Cardinals have outscored opponents 32-19 on the season with 10 different players recording goals and eight players with two or more goals.

Tough stretch
The Cardinals recently finished a stretch in which they faced eight ranked opponents in 10 games.
• The stretch started Sept. 11 against then-No. 6 Virginia (L, 3-4) and continued with No. 17 Liberty (W, 2-1). Louisville then traveled to No. 3 North Carolina (L, 0-5) and No. 19 James Madison (W, 5-0) before returning home to face No. 8 Wake Forest (L, 1-2). The past two weekends Cardinals traveled to No. 5 Duke (L, 2-0) and fell 2-1 to No. 1 Syracuse. They ended the stretch with a 3-2 win at No. 13 Boston College on Oct. 16.

Louisville No. 7 in the NCAA RPI
The Cardinals are currently No. 7 in the RPI released by the NCAA on Oct. 20. Seven of Louisville's 2015 opponents are included in the top 20 with all seven ACC teams listed in the top 13. Below is a list of Louisville's opponents in the top 20 of the NCAA's RPI.
1 - Syracuse
2 – North Carolina
3 – Virginia
4 - Duke
5 - Wake Forest
9 - Liberty
13 - Boston College

Youth Factor
With the graduation of seven seniors from the 2014 team, Louisville had some experienced shoes to fill. This year's team features 12 underclassmen, five of whom have started multiple games for the Cardinals. Among the more significant underclassmen contributions:
• Freshman Ayeisha McFerran has started every game and leads the ACC with seven shutouts.
• Sophomore Nicole Woods leads the team with 16 points (6G, 4A) to tie for the team lead.
• Sophomore Stephanie Byrne leads the team with seven goals.
• Freshman Tess Hannah has played in every game with four starts and has three goals on the season.

Home Sweet Home
Louisville has a 4-3 record at Trager Stadium and is now 21-4 at home since the beginning of the 2013 season.
• The Cards were 8-1 at Trager in 2014. On Oct. 17, 2014 Louisville fell 2-1 in overtime to No. 17 Boston College, snapping a 16 -game home victory streak dating back to the 2012 season.
• Prior to the Boston College loss in 2014, 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.
• In 2013, UofL posted a perfect 10-0 record at Trager Stadium, going undefeated at home for the first time in school history.

Garcia among Louisville's career leaders
Senior Elisa Garcia has moved to No. 5 on Louisville's list for all-time assists. The midfielder currently has 28 career assists and needs four more to move into a tie for fourth with 2011 All-American Hayley Turner (2008-11). Nicole Youman (2007-10) owns the career assists record with 52.
• Garcia also currenlty has 68 career points, placing her at No. 10 on the school's all time list. She needs two more to move into a three-way tie for eighth with Jen Kastelic (2002-05) and 2014 All-American Alyssa Volemle (2011-14).

Garcia, Woods earn preseason All-ACC honors
• Elisa Garcia and Nicole Woods were selected to the Preseason All-ACC Field Hockey team and the Cardinals were picked to finish sixth in the league according to a vote of the league's seven head coaches.
• Garcia (Santiago, Chile), a senior midfielder and team co-captain, is a two-time All-National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) West Region selection. In 2014, the three-year starter led the Cardinals with 27 points and 13 assists.
• Woods (Beverly, Mass.) a sophomore midfielder/back was recently named to USA Field Hockey's Under 21 team after serving on the U19 team in 2014. As a freshman, Woods earned a starting role for the Cardinals and scored three goals with four assists for 10 points.
• North Carolina, which has reached the semifinals of the NCAA Championship each of the past six years, garnered four votes for first place and edged out Syracuse for the top spot. The Orange, which advanced to the national championship game last year, collected two first place votes and 31 points. Duke was selected on one ballot to win the league and stands third in the preseason poll. Virginia, Wake Forest, Louisville, and Boston College round out the preseason poll.

Woods and Stone selected to USA Field Hockey's Junior National Teams
Sophomore Nicole Woods was selected to the Under-21 squad while incoming freshman Taylor Stone was named to the Under-19 squad.
• Members of the junior national teams were selected from the Junior National Camp which was comprised of the top 110 athletes selected from Young Women's National Championship, National Futures Championship and Futures Elite Championship. Louisville head coach Justine Sowry served as a coach for the 2015 USA U21 camp.
• Woods, a forward/midfielder from Beverly, Mass., was selected to the 2014 USA U19 squad and recently traveled to Belgium with the team. As a freshman, Woods played in all 21 of Louisville's games and scored three goals while dishing out four assists.
• Stone, a back from Herndon, Va., was a member of the 2013-14 USA Field Hockey team. She also represented the United States in the 2013 Maccabiah Games.

McFerran, Irish National Team compete in World League Games
Ayeisha McFerran is not your typical freshman making the adjustment to Division I field hockey. The goalkeeper from Larne, Northern Ireland, is also the youngest member of Ireland's National Team and has earned 24 senior caps. She competed in the 2015 World League Round 3 Games in Valencia where the Irish posted an eighth place finish. While playing in the World League 2 tournament, McFerran came off the bench to help the Irish national team beat Canada in an overtime shootout and win the championship.

Netzler-Gray returns to Louisville – on the sidelines
Louisville field hockey fans will see a familiar face on the sidelines this season. Former Cardinal great Olivia Netzler-Gray has returned to her alma mater and is in her first season as an assistant coach. Netzler-Gray (2001-03) was a two-time NFHCA All-Region selection and still ranks among the program's top 10 leaders in career goals and points.

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Players Mentioned

Stephanie Byrne

Elisa Garcia

Tess Hannah

Lotta Kahlert

Becca Maddock

Ayeisha McFerran

Taylor Stone

Alyssa Voelmle

Nicole Woods

University of Louisville Athletics