No. 6 Field Hockey Welcomes No. 2 Duke and Ohio State to Trager Stadium

The sixth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team will return to Trager Stadium for a pair of games this weekend.

Fans are encouraged to wear black on Friday as the Cards (6-0) open ACC play against No. 2 Duke (6-0) at 6 p.m. in a matchup that features two of six undefeated teams in the nation. On Sunday, UofL will play host to Ohio State at 1 p.m. Admission is free to all UofL Field Hockey home games.

This weekend also marks the Cardinals' annual Alumnae Weekend with special recognition for those who played at UofL from 2000 through 2009. All former letterwinners in attendance will be recognized at halftime during Sunday's game against Ohio State.

The Weekend Ahead
Sept. 16 #2 Duke at #6 Louisville, 6 p.m.
Promotions/Giveaways: Black Out – Black UofL T-Shirts while supplies last
Sept. 18 Ohio State at #6 Louisville, 1 p.m.
Promotions/Giveaways: Decades Day – 2000-09; all letterwinners in attendance will be honored at halftime; UofL water bottles while supplies last.
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: Trager Stadium
Television: ACC Network Extra
Live scoring: GoCards.com
Twitter updates: @ULFieldHockey

Cardinal Quick Hits:
• Louisville enters the weekend with a 6-0 record and ranked No. 6 in the most recent Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Poll.
• The Cards are led offensively by freshman Minout Mink who is tied atop ACC standings with eight goals and 17 points on the season. Mink has scored at least one goal in all but one of Louisville's games.
• Senior co-captain Lotta Kahlert stands second on the team with five goals and 11 points.
• Fellow senior captain Erin McCrudden leads the team with seven assists - she scored the game-winner in the Cards' 1-0 overtime victory against Michigan State.
• The Cardinals have outscored opponents 28-3 on the season.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran (5-0) carries a nation-best 0.41 goals against average and an .857 save percentage.
• Head coach Justine Sowry is in her sixth season at the helm for the Cardinals. She has compiled a 71-35 record at Louisville and has an overall 129-66 record while in her tenth season as a head coach.

Louisville vs. Duke
Series History: Duke leads 8-3
Last Meeting: Oct. 2, 2015 - Hunter Bracale and Robin Blazing scored as the fifth-ranked Blue Devils beat No. 9 Louisville in Durham.
• The teams' first meeting as ACC opponents was on Oct. 3, 2014 at Trager Stadium. In that game, then-No. 12 Louisville upset fourth-ranked Duke 2-1 behind first half goals from Erin McCrudden and Elisa Garcia.   Martine Chichizola put the Blue Devils on the scoreboard in the second half.
Scouting the Blue Devils:
•Duke enters the weekend with a 6-0 record and - along with Louisville - one of six undefeated teams in the nation.
• The Blue Devils are coming off of a 7-1 win over James Madison on Sunday. Prior to that, Duke defeated No. 11 Virginia 3-2 in its ACC opener.
• Duke is led offensively by Heather Morris who has eight goals and 17 assists and is tied atop ACC standings with Louisville's Minout Mink.
•The Blue Devils are coached by Pam Bustin who is in her sixth season at Duke. Prior to that, Bustin spent 13 seasons (1998-2010) as Louisville's head coach.

Louisville vs. Ohio State
Series History: OSU leads 16-9
Last Meeting: Oct. 11, 2015 - Lotta Kahlert's first half goal lifted the Cardinals to a 1-0 in Columbus, Ohio.
Scouting the Buckeyes: Ohio State (3-3) brings a three-game win streak into the weekend prior to a Friday matchup at Northwestern. The Buckeyes are coming off of a 2-1 overtime win over Miami (Ohio) on Sunday. Prior to that, Ohio State beat UC Davis 2-1 and Ohio University 3-0.
• The Buckeyes are led by Maddy Humphrey's six goals and 14 points.
• OSU is coached by Anne Wilkinson who is in her 21st season at the helm.

Up Next
Following this weekend's action, Louisville will hit the road for the state of North Carolina to face ACC foe Wake Forest on Sept. 23 and Appalachian State on Sept. 25.

Up Last
The Cardinals extended their win streak to six games with a pair of road victories last weekend. Freshman Minout Mink registered a hat trick and dished out an assist to lead Louisville to an 8-0 win over Central Michigan on Friday. Senior Erin McCrudden's goal in overtime lifted the Cardinals to a 1-0 win over Michigan State on Sunday.

Louisville Ranked No. 6 in NFHCA poll
UofL moved up two spots to No. 6 in the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association poll released on Sept. 13. The Cardinals opened the season at No. 12 in the preseason poll and moved to No. 8 in the Sept. 6 poll. Louisville (6-0) is one of six undefeated teams entering the fourth week of the season.
• This marks the 34th straight week the Cardinals have appeared in the top 20 rankings dating back to the 2013 season. 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 36th consecutive poll that the entire league has been ranked, a streak dating back to October 2012.

Mink Shines in Early Season
Freshman Minout Mink is off to an impressive start to her rookie campaign. The forward from Haaksbergen, Netherlands, leads the team with eight goals including a hat trick versus Central Michigan and a pair of goals in her collegiate debut. She registered at least one goal in Louisville's first five games, snapping the streak in the 1-0 win at Michigan State on Sept. 11.
• After six games, she is tied for the ACC lead with eight goals and 17 points.

Cards Among Nation's Leaders
Louisville stands among the top 10 in the nation in several categories. The Cards are one of six undefeated teams tied for first in the nation with a 1.000 win percentage. They are also first in scoring margin (4.14) and team goals against average. UofL stands second in the nation in assists per game (4.67, save percentage (.824) and shutouts per game (0.50). Louisville third in the country, averaging 14.00 points per game and 10.33 penalty corners per game and fourth with a 4.64 scoring average.

Cards NCAA Team Stats Breakdown
Rank Category              Number
T1     Winning percentage 1.000
1       Scoring margin            4.14
1       Goals against average 0.50
2       Assists per game         4.67
2       Save percentage          .824
2       Shutouts per game      0.50
3       Points per game        14.00
3       Penalty corners per game 10.33
4       Scoring average          4.64

McFerran leads nation in goals against average and save percentage -
Sophomore goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran leads the nation with a 0.41 goals against average and a .857 save percentage.

Mink, McCrudden and Ragsdale ranked in top 10 offensive categories• Freshman Minout Mink is ranked eighth in goals per game (1.33) and 10th in points per game (2.83). Senior Erin McCrudden is second in assists per game )1.17) while junior Marigrace Ragsdale is fifth in the same category (1.00 assists per game).

Cards NCAA Individual Stats
Ayeisha McFerran
Rank    Category         Number
1       Goals against average 0.41
1       Save percentage          .857
T1     GK Win/Loss percentage 1.000
21     Save percentage          .747
Minout Mink
Rank Category             Number
8       Goals per game          1.33
10     Points per game         2.83
Erin McCrudden
Rank Category             Number
2       Assists per game         1.17
Marigrace Ragsdale
Rank Category             Number
5       Assists per game         1.00

ACC Strong
• The Atlantic Coast Conference has continued its showing among the nation's best with all seven league teams appearing in the top 12 including: No. 1 North Carolina, No. 2 Syracuse – the defending national champion, No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Virginia, No. 7 Wake Forest and No. 8 Boston College.
• ACC teams have won 18 of the 35 NCAA field hockey titles, including 11 of the last 14, and at least one ACC squad has advanced to the national championship for 17 straight years. All seven ACC programs earned bids to the 2015 NCAA Championship and all seven finished the 2015 season ranked nationally.

Calling Card - Stingy defense
Louisville has three shutouts on the season while limiting opponents to three goals and 28 shots in six games.
• The 2015 Louisville defense produced nine shutouts, the most since the 2001 team recorded nine. The school record is 10 - set in the 1980 season.

Balanced Attack
The Cardinals have 28 goals on the season with 12 players contributing at least one goal and six players adding multiple goals. Freshman Minout Mink leads the way with eight goals while senior Lotta Kahlert follows with five. Senior Lizzie Gittens has three goals and seniors Shannon Sloss and freshmen Whena Munn and Bethany Russ have two apiece.

Home Sweet Home
The Cards went 2-0 in their home opening weekend to bring their home tally to 27-4 since the 2013 season.
• Louisville posted a 7-3 record at Trager Stadium in 2015 and is now 25-4 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.

Tough Road Ahead
The Cardinals will face a challenging schedule in 2016. Nine of their 19 opponents are currently ranked in the NFHCA's top 20 with four of those teams ranked inside the top 10.

Kahlert Named ACC Offensive Player of the Week
Lotta Kahlert was named ACC Field Hockey Offensive Player of the Week as announced by the league office on Sept. 6.
• Kahlert led the Cardinals offensively with three goals as Louisville opened its home season with wins over Brown and Richmond. The team co-captain had a goal in the 7-1 win over Brown and scored twice in the 5-1 victory over Richmond.

Woods Ties School Assist Record
Junior Nicole Woods dished out three assist in the 7-1 win over Brown on Sept. 3. The performance places her in a tie for the school record for assists in a single game.
• Woods now has four assists on the season and 12 in her career.

Kahlert and McCrudden Tabbed Team Captains
The 2016 Cardinals will be look to senior captains Lotta Kahlert and Erin McCrudden to lead them on the field. Kahlert has played in every game as a Cardinal and started all 20 her junior season. McCrudden worked her way into the starting lineup in 2015 and went on to earn NFHCA All-West Region honors.

Woods Named to 2016 Junior World Cup Roster
Nicole Woods has been named to the Under-21 United States Women's National Team Junior World Cup roster. The 2016 Junior World Cup will take place November 23 – December 4 in Santiago, Chile.
• The junior forward was selected to the 2016 Junior World Cup Roster after training with the U-21 USWNT throughout the summer which included a first place finish at the 2016 Young Women's National Championship. In March 2016, she scored five goals in the 2016 Junior Pan American Championship to help Team USA to a silver medal and an automatic berth to the Junior Women's World Cup.
• Woods was initially named to the U21 team in the summer of 2015, she competed with the team in a test series against Great Britain in January 2016. She was previously a member of the USA Field Hockey U19 squad and traveled to Belgium for a series of games.

Cards on ACC Network Extra
Every Louisville field hockey home game will be aired digitally on ACC Network Extra as part of the initial phase of the full ACC Network announced July 21 by ESPN and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Live streaming of Olympic sports conference-wide will increase annually, culminating with 1,300 total ACC events when the linear network launches in 2019.
• The events covered by ACC Network Extra will be immediately available to users who have access to WatchESPN and the ESPN app. More than 600 total Olympic sporting events – encompassing the fall, winter, and spring seasons – will be carried exclusively by ACC Network Extra during the 2016-17 academic year.

McFerran, Woods Named to Preseason All-ACC Field Hockey Team
Ayeisha McFerran and Nicole Woods have been named to the 2016 Preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Team as announced by the league office on Tuesday. The Cardinals were also picked to finish sixth in a vote by the head coaches.
• McFerran, a sophomore goalkeeper from Larne, Northern Ireland is coming off of an impressive rookie season. In 2015, she posted a 1.24 goals against average and nine shutouts and became the first freshman in program history to earn National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-America honors after being named to the All-West Region first team. McFerran is also a member of the Irish National Field Hockey team.
• This marks the second straight conference preseason honor for Woods, a junior forward/midfielder from Beverly, Mass. She was a second team All-ACC selection and first team NFHCA All-West Region pick in 2015 after leading the Cardinals with 22 points and nine goals. Woods is a member of USA Field Hockey's Under-21 team and was recently named to the 2016 Junior World Cup Roster.
2016 ACC Field Hockey Preseason
Predicted Order of Finish
1. North Carolina (4) - 34
2. Virginia (1) - 28
3. Syracuse (2) - 27
4. Duke - 22
5. Wake Forest - 14
6. Louisville - 12
7. Boston College – 10

Looking back to 2015
The Cardinals finished the 2015 campaign with a 13-7 overall record and made their second-straight NCAA appearance. Louisville was ranked No. 11 in the final Penn Monto/NFHCA National Coaches Poll and spent seven weeks among the top 10 in the nation after opening the 2015 season at No. 12.

No. 6 Field Hockey Welcomes No. 2 Duke and Ohio State to Trager Stadium

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Players Mentioned

Elisa Garcia

Lizzie Gittens

Lotta Kahlert

Erin McCrudden

Ayeisha McFerran

Minout Mink

Whena Munn

Marigrace Ragsdale

Bethany Russ

Shannon Sloss

Nicole Woods

University of Louisville Athletics