No. 9 Field Hockey Travels to North Carolina to Face Two Ranked Opponents

The ninth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. to face No. 3 North Carolina in an ACC matchup Friday and No. 19 James Madison Sunday in a neutral site game.

About Louisville: The Cardinals (5-1) moved up two spots to No.9 in the most recent NFHCA Coaches Poll released on Sept. 15. Three players stand among Louisville's offensive leaders with eight points apiece. Sophomore Stephanie Byrne has scored a team-best four goals while senior Elisa Garcia has three goals and two assists. Senior Katharine Gwynne-Wood leads the Cardinals with four assists and has two goals on the season. Freshman goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran (5-1) carries a 0.87 goals-against average with 20 saves in 401:59 minutes of action.

Last weekend: The Cardinals went 1-1 at home last weekend. Louisville suffered its first loss of the season with a 4-3 setback against No. 6 Virginia, but bounced back for a 2-1 win over No. 17 Liberty.
•Senior Elisa Garcia scored a pair of goals, but the 11^th ranked University of Louisville fell 4-3 to sixth-ranked Virginia in both teams' ACC opener Friday evening at Trager Stadium.
• Senior Katharine Gwynne-Wood scored her first career goal and added another to lead the 11^th ranked University of Louisville field hockey team to a 2-1 win over No. 17 Liberty Sunday afternoon at Trager Stadium.

Up Next: Louisville will resume ACC play against No. 8 Wake Forest when the Demon Deacons visit Trager Stadium on Sept. 25. The game is slated for a 6 p.m. start and admission is free.

Cards against the opponents
No. 3 North Carolina
Series Record: UL leads 2-1
Last Meeting: Sept. 20, 2014 – Louisville won 3-2 at Trager Stadium
Recapping the 2014 matchup: Senior Becca Maddock's goal with five minutes remaining in the game broke a 2-2 tie and lifted the No. 14 University of Louisville field hockey team to a 3-2 win over No. 1 North Carolina at Trager Stadium. The victory marked the first win over a top-ranked team in program history as well as the first-ever ACC win for the Cards.
Scouting the Tar Heels: North Carolina enters its home opener with a 5-1 overall record and an 0-1 mark in ACC play. The Tar Heels opened the season with wins against No. 14 Michigan, No. 17 Iowa, No. 15 Princeton and Drexel before falling 4-2 at No. 3 Syracuse last Saturday. UNC rebounded with a 4-2 win at No 7 Albany Sunday.
• The Tar Heels are led by Emily Wold's 15 points (6G, 3A). Casey Di Nardo and Nina Notman follow with three goals apiece. Shannon Johnson (5-1) carries a 1.52 goals against average with 14 saves in 414:21 minutes of action.

No. 19 James Madison
Series Record: JMU leads 2-1
Last Meeting: Sept. 4, 2010 – UL won 2-1 in Harrisonburg, Va.
Recapping the 2010 matchup: The Cardinals used goals from Simone Attles and Erin Schneidtmiller to take a 2-0 lead and withstood a late second half rally that included a goal by JMU's Delores de Rooij.
Scouting the Dukes: No. 19 James Madison enters the weekend with a 4-1 overall record prior to a Friday evening matchup at Appalachian State. The Dukes opened the season with a 6-3 loss at Liberty, but have registered victories over Longwood, No. 17 Iowa, Richmond and VCU in the midst of a four-game win streak.
•The Dukes are led offensively by Loes Stijntjes who has 13 points with five goals and three assists. Melissa Wilken also has five goals and has dished out one assist for 11 points on the season. Sara Kraeutler (4-1) carries a 2.22 goals against average with 24 saves in 347:15 minutes.

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 Sept. 15. The Cards move up two spots after going 1-1 last weekend with a 4-3 loss to then No. 6 Virginia and a 2-1 win over then-No. 17 Liberty. Louisville opened the season at No. 13 in the coaches poll.
• This marks the 23rd 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 11. It marks the 27th consecutive poll that the entire league has been ranked, a streak dating to October of 2012.

Tough stretch
The Cardinals are in the midst of a tough stretch of their schedule in which they face eight ranked teams in a row. The stretch started with No. 6 Virginia (L, 3-4) and No. 17 Liberty (W, 2-1). This weekend Louisville will play No. 3 North Carolina and No. 19 James Madison. It doesn't get any easier with No. 8 Wake Forest, No. 7 Duke, No. 20 UMass and No. 2 Syracuse still on the horizon.

Stingy defense
The Louisville defense has registered an ACC-best three shutouts this season and leads the nation in shutouts per game. Additionally, the Cardinals' 1.00 team goals against average stands at seventh in the nation along with freshman goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran's 0.87 goal against average which is also seventh among the nation's goalkeepers.

Louisville among nation's leaders (Part 2)
The Cardinals rank among the top 20 in scoring margin (7th/2.17); winning percentage (7^th/.883); assists per game (14th/2.50); points per game (16th/8.83); goals per game (17th/3.17); and scoring average (17th/3.17).
• Senior Katharine Gwynne-Wood is ranked No. 21 in assists per game with four assists in six games.

Balanced Attack
The Cardinals have outscored opponents 19-6 on the season with 10 different players recording goals and five players with two or more goals.

Home Sweet Home
Louisville has a 3-1 record at Trager Stadium and is now 20-2 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, 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.

No. 9 Field Hockey Travels to North Carolina to Face Two Ranked Opponents

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Players Mentioned

Stephanie Byrne

Elisa Garcia

Katharine Gwynne-Wood

Ayeisha McFerran

Taylor Stone

Nicole Woods

University of Louisville Athletics