No. 10 Field Hockey Set to Host the ACC Championship

The University of Louisville field hockey team is set to host the 2017 ACC Championship November 2, 3 and 5. All seven conference teams will visit Louisville's Trager Stadium to compete for the conference crown and earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. The tenth-ranked Cardinals will face No. 11 Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship Thursday at 4 p.m. at Louisville's Trager Stadium.

2017 ACC Field Hockey Championship
Thursday, November 2
11:00 a.m. - Game 1: #5 North Carolina vs. #4 Wake Forest
1:30 p.m. - Game 2: #7 Boston College vs. #2 Duke
4:00 p.m. - Game 3: #6 Syracuse vs. #3 Louisville
Friday, November 3
12:00 p.m. - #1 Virginia vs. Game 1 Winner
2:30 p.m. - Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner
Sunday, November 5
1:00 p.m.- ACC Championship

Ticket Information:
Single-session general admission tickets may be purchased at the gate located at the north entrance of Trager Stadium (near the track). Ticket prices are set at $5 for adults. Youth under the age of 18 and ACC students with valid student identification will receive free admission.

Spectator Parking
Thursday, Nov. 2
Throughout the day on Thursday, fans may utilize the "Solae" lot located on Floyd Street south of Trager Stadium. There will be no charge for parking in the Solae lot and shuttle services will be provided for those who wish to utilize them.

The Floyd Street Parking Garage will also be available for the 4 p.m. game starting at 3 p.m. Fans may use the entrance on Floyd Street (directly across from the Don Fightmaster Playground). There is a $5 fee for parking in the Floyd Street Garage.

Friday, Nov. 3 - Sunday, Nov. 5
Event parking for the semifinals and finals will be located in the Floyd Street Parking Garage ($5 fee). Please use the entrance on Floyd Street (directly across from the Don Fightmaster Playground).

ACC on TV
ACC fans will be able to watch all six games of the championship as they will be televised live by the league's Regional Sports Networks and will be available online and on mobile devices via ACC Network Extra.

Louisville Field Hockey Quick Hits
• UofL enters the weekend with a 12-6 overall record after closing ACC play with a 4-2 mark. The four wins are the most ACC victories for Louisville since joining the conference in 2014.
• Louisville finished tied for second in the ACC regular season standings and earned the No. 3 seed in the ACC Championship which will be held Nov. 2-5 at Trager Stadium.
• The Cardinals are ranked No. 10 in the NFHCA Coaches' Poll, marking UofL's 52nd straight appearance in the top 20 dating back to the 2013 season.
• Last weekend, the Cards snapped a two-game losing streak with a 6-0 win over Ohio in their season finale.
• Sophomore Minout Mink leads the team with nine goals and 21 points. Senior co-captain Marigrace Ragsdale follows with 19 points (6G, 7A). Fellow senior co-captain is tied for third (6G, 6A) along with freshman Marisa Martin Pelegrina who has four goals and leads the team with 10 assists.
• Ayeisha McFerran (8-5), holds a 1.94 goals against average in 15 appearances after being sidelined due to injury for the first three games of the season.
• Justine Sowry is in her seventh season at the helm for the Cardinals. The 2016 NFHCA West Region Coach of the Year has compiled a 92-46 record at Louisville and has an overall 150-76 record while in her 11th season as a head coach.

Louisville vs. Syracuse
Series History: Syracuse leads 10-4
Last Meeting: Sept. 29, 2017; UL won 2-1 in double OT at Trager Stadium
• Taylor Stone's penalty stroke in the fourth minute of double overtime lifted the 12th ranked University of Louisville field hockey team to a 2-1 win over No. 7 Syracuse.
• Freshman Madison Walsh delivered her first career goal during a penalty corner with no time left on the clock at the end of regulation as the Cardinals erased a 1-0 deficit.
Shots: UL 14 - SU 10
Corners: SU 4 - UL 2
Saves: van der Velde (SU) 8; McFerran (UL) 5
Goals: Laura Hurff (SU), Madison Walsh (UL), Taylor Stone (UL)

Louisville vs. the rest of the field
Virginia
Series History:
Last Meeting: Oct. 21, 2017 - UVA won 2-1 at Trager Stadium
• Junior Taylor Stone gave the seventh-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team a 1-0 lead, but a pair of second-half goals lifted third-ranked Virginia to a 2-1 win over the Cardinals. With the win, UVA earned the 2017 ACC regular season title. UofL snapped a seven-game win streak and finished the regular season tied for second in ACC standings with a 4-2 mark in conference play.
• Stone converted a penalty stroke to give Louisville a 1-0 lead in the first half, but the Cavaliers used goals by Izzy McDonough and Pien Dicke.
Shots: UVA 9 - UL 8
Corners: UVA 6 - UL 5
Saves: McFerran (UL) 3 - Carrera (UVA) 3
Goals: Stone (UL), McDonough (UVA), Dicke (UVA)

Duke
Series History: Duke leads 9-3
Last Meeting: Sept. 15, 2017 - Duke won 5-0 in Durham
NOTE: The Blue Devils are coached by Pam Bustin who is in her seventh season at Duke. Prior to that, Bustin spent 13 seasons (1998-2010) as Louisville's head coach.
• The 11th-ranked Cards team fell 5-0 to No. 4 Duke in their ACC opener.
• The loss marked the most goals surrendered by Louisville since Sept. 18, 2015 when it fell 5-0 to then-No. 3 North Carolina in an ACC matchup.
Shots: Duke 20 - UL 2
Corners: Duke 5 - UL 2
Saves: McFerran (UL) 6; Steele (DU)
Goals: Tynan (DU), Andretta (DU), Andretta (DU), Kristen (DU), Mackintire (DU)

North Carolina
Series History: Tied 3-3
Last Meeting: Oct. 14, 2017 - Louisville won 3-2 in Durham, N.C.
•In a game that featured two lead changes and two ties, the Cardinals got goals from junior Katie Walsh, senior Abby Grimes and junior Taylor Stone whose game-winning goal broke a 2-2 tie midway through the second half.
Shots: UNC 15 - UL 7
Corners: UNC 5 - UL 3
Saves: McFerran (UL) 4; Hendry (UNC) 3
Goals: Evert (UNC), K. Walsh (UL), Grimes (UL), Guenther (UNC), Stone (UL)

Wake Forest
Series History: Wake Forest leads 11-5
Last Meeting: Sept. 22, 2017 - UL won 3-2 in a shootout
Then 15th-ranked Louisville prevailed in a shootout to beat No. 11 Wake Forest 3-2.
• Sophomore Minout Mink scored a goal in the second half and sealed the win by converting her shootout attempt. Junior goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran collected five saves and stopped three Wake Forest shootout attempts to earn the win.
• The game marked the first time since Sept. 28, 2004 that the Cardinals have gone to a shootout. In that game, Ohio State defeated Louisville 2-1 at Trager Stadium.
Shots: WF 15 - UL 12
Corners: WF 9 - UL 3
Saves: McFerran (UL) 5; Bint (WF) 5
Goals: Ragsdale (UL), Grashoff (WF), Mink (UL), van Hoof (WF), TEAM (UL)

Boston College
Series History: BC leads 2-1
Last Meeting: Oct. 6, 2017, Boston College won 4-1 in Newton, Mass.
• Madison Walsh and Taylor Stone each scored a pair of goals and Ayeisha McFerran collected seven saves to help lead the 11th-ranked Cardinals to a 4-1 win over host eight-ranked Boston College.
Shots: BC 13 - UL 9
Corners: BC 4 - UL 2
Saves: McFerran (UL) 7; Dwyer (BC) 3
Goals: Mink (UL), M. Walsh (UL), Stone (2) (UL), Lytle (BC)

More Cardinal Quick Hits
• The Cards were picked to finish fourth in the ACC preseason coaches' poll. Ayeisha McFerran, Minout Mink and Nicole Woods earned All-ACC preseason honors.
• UofL went 15-6 in 2016 and earned their third consecutive NCAA at-large bid. Louisville returns 14 letterwinners from last year's team and welcomes 10 newcomers.

Last weekend:
Louisville 6 - Ohio 0
Six different Cardinals scored while Ayeisha McFerran and Hollyn Barr combined for a shutout to help the ninth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team close the regular season with a 6-0 win against Ohio.
• Marigrace Ragsdale scored a goal and added two assists while Abby Grimes also scored in her final regular season home game. Fellow senior co-captain Nicole Woods led the team with five shots on goal and helped the Cards hold Ohio to four shots in the game. The Cardinals tallied a season-best six goals 33 shots with 24 of them landing on goal.

Championship City
Louisville's Trager Stadium will serve as the host site for two major field hockey championships in November 2017. UofL will kick off the postseason by hosting the ACC Championship Nov. 2-5 and two weeks later will welcome the NCAA DI final four teams. Additionally, Trager Stadium is proud to stage the DI, DII and DIII title games on Nov. 19.
• While this will be the first time the Cardinals have hosted the ACC Championship, it will be the sixth time that Trager Stadium will serve as the host site for the NCAA Division I Field Hockey National Championship. The event was also staged on the Cardinals' home field in 2002, 2005, 2008 and 2011. Trager Stadium has also been selected as the host site for the 2018 NCAA Field Hockey Championship.
• In addition, the NCAA Division II Championship was played at the facility in 2010. Located in Cardinal Park on the UofL campus, Trager Stadium opened in 2000 and was expanded in 2008 with a seating capacity of 2,500.

Sowry Earns 150th Career Victory
On Oct. 29, the Cardinals defeated Ohio 6-0 to mark head coach Justine Sowry's 150th career win. The 2016 NFHCA West Region Coach of the Year is in her 11th season as a head coach and in her ninth year at Louisville where she has compiled a 92-46 record.

Young and talented
The Cardinals' 2017 roster features nine freshmen and six sophomores. Louisville's starting lineup has featured as many as four freshmen and three sophomores with all active underclassmen seeing playing time.
• Sophomore Minout Mink has scored a team-high nine goals and leads the Cardinals with 21 points. Freshman Marisa Martin Pelegrina leads the team with 10 assists and stands tied for third with 18 points. Fellow sophomore goalkeeper Hollyn Barr carries a 4-1 record and 0.92 goals against average.

Balanced offense
Louisville has scored 46 goals through 18 games this season with 11 different players accounting for the offensive output. Sophomore Minout Mink leads the team with nine goals while junior Taylor Stone follows with seven goal. Seniorsr Nicole Woods, Abby Grimes and Marigrace Ragsdale stand tied for third on the team with six goals apiece.

Woods Enters UofL's Top 10 Career Assists
Senior Nicole Woods dished out an assist in Louisville's 6-2 loss to Michigan on Oct. 22 to improve her career tally to 24 and move into 10th place on Louisville's all-time list. She needs four more to tie with Lisa Wasser for 7th.

Mink Shines
With a team-best nine goals on the season, sophomore Minout Mink picked up where she left off after last year's impressive rookie campaign. She garnered 2016 NFHCA All-West Region first team and All-ACC second team honors after leading the team with 15 goals, setting a school record for goals scored by a freshman.

Senior Salute
On Oct. 29, the Cardinals honored seniors Abby Grimes, Marigrace Ragsdale and Nicole Woods in their final regular season home game. Collectively as a class, they have won 55 games while compiling an impressive 29-8 record at Trager Stadium.
• They has helped the program reach several milestones while leading the transition into the ACC including three straight NCAA appearances. Their teams have been a mainstay in the national top 20 rankings, while spending 27 weeks among the top 10, reaching as high as No. 5 in 2014.
• As freshmen, they played a part in Louisville's victory over top-ranked North Carolina, notching the program's first ACC win and first victory over a No. 1 team. This season they helped the Cardinals to a program-best 4-2 record in ACC play and finished tied for second in the conference.
• The class of 2017 has also excelled academically, earning the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association Academic team award in each of their seasons here.

Louisville stands at No. 11 in the RPI
The NCAA has released its sixth RPI report of the season on Oct. 24 and the Cardinals stand at No. 11, down two from last week after falling to Virginia and Michigan at home.

You've got to play the best
UofL is no stranger to facing quality competition and this season is no different with 11 of its 18 opponents appearing among the top 15. Below is a list of Louisville's 2017 opponents who are included in the NCAA's top 15 RPI.
1. Duke
3. Virginia
4. Michigan
5. North Carolina
7. Delaware
8. Boston College
9. Maryland
10. Northwestern
11. Louisville
13. Wake Forest
14. Syracuse
15. James Madison

Cards No. 10 NFHCA Rankings
UofL is No. 10 in the 2017 Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Poll released on Oct. 31, dropping one spot after defeating Ohio 6-0 in its regular season finale.
• The Cards have spent five weeks in the top 10 this season after debuting at No. 9 - their highest preseason ranking in program history.
• On Sept. 12, the Cardinals snapped a streak of 12 straight weeks in the top 10 for Cardinals have appeared in the NFHCA top 10 in 12 straight ranking periods dating back to Sept. 8, 2016. UofL finished last season at No. 9 after posting a 15-6 overall record and earning its third-straight NCAA tournament bid.
• This marks the 52nd straight week the Cardinals have appeared in the top 20 rankings dating back to the 2013 season.
• 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.

ACC strong
All seven ACC field hockey programs are ranked among the top 20 in the nation. The league boasts four teams in the top 10: Duke (No. 2), Virginia (No. 4), North Carolina (No. 6) and Louisville (No. 10) while Syracuse (No. 11, Boston College (No. 12) and Wake Forest (No. 13) round out the top 13 teams.
• Every ACC field hockey team has been ranked for the entirety of the last four seasons, a streak that dates to October of 2012 and includes 56 consecutive NFHCA Polls.

Tough slate
Twelve of Louisville's 18 opponents appear in the NFHCA top 25. In addition to their ACC opponents, the Cardinals' non-conference slate features matchups against No. 3 Michigan, No. 7 Maryland, No. 8 Delaware, No. 9 Northwestern and No. 15 James Madison.

Home Sweet Home
Louisville has compiled a 7-2 record at Trager Stadium, bringing its home tally to 38-8 since the 2013 season. In 2016, the Cards also posted a 7-2 record at Trager Stadium.
• 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.
• The 6-2 loss to No. 4 Michigan snapped a 28-game win streak against non-conference opponents at Trager Stadium dating back to 2012. Prior to the Oct. 22 setback, the Cardinals had not lost to a non-conference opponent at home since Aug. 24, 2012 when they fell to Northeastern in their season opener. - Louisville also lost a 2-1 decision to UConn on Oct. 6, 2012 when both teams were members of the BIG EAST Conference.

International experience
The Cardinals' roster is bolstered by several players who have gained valuable experience within their countries' national programs. The following is a list of players and their national squads.
Marisa Martin Pelegrina - German U18 Team
Ayeisha McFerran - Irish National Team (2015-present)
        • World League 2 Champions (Goalkeeper of the Tournament)
        • Seventh place finish in World League Semifinals
Meghan Schneider - U.S. U19 Team
Taylor Stone - U.S. U21 Team (USA/England Tour Roster); Also played in 2017 Maccabiah Games in Jerusalem
Nicole Woods - U.S. National Team (Summer 2017)
        • 2017 World League Champions (Johannesburg, S.A.)
        • Bronze Medal 2017 Pan American Cups (Lancaster, Pa.)

Grimes and Woods Named to NFHCA Senior Game Roster
Abby Grimes and Nicole Woods were selected to the 2017 Victory Sports Tours NFHCA Division I Senior Game roster.
• Grimes and Woods will compete in the contest on their home field on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. in conjunction with the NCAA Division I national championships which will be held at the University of Louisville's Trager Stadium Nov. 17 and 19.
• Grimes, a defender from St. Louis, Mo., is a three-year starter for the Cardinals. The senior co-captain has registered three goals on the season, including one in Louisville's 3-2 upset of No. 5 North Carolina. She has also dished out a pair of assists and has tallied eight points.
• Woods, who hails from Beverly, Mass., is a four-year starter and senior co-captain. The forward/midfielder stands second on the team with six goals and has dished out five assists for 17 points. She is a two-time NFHCA All-West Region and All-ACC selection and a member of USA Field Hockey national team.
The Senior Game contest will be played following the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Tournament, which takes place on Nov. 17 at 2 and 4:45 p.m. at Louisville. The NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship will be held on Nov. 19 at 2 p.m.

Cards picked to finish fourth in ACC
The University of Louisville field hockey team was picked to finish fourth in the ACC according to a vote of the league's seven head coaches. The Cardinals led the conference with three players selected to the Preseason All-ACC team with senior Nicole Woods, junior Ayeisha McFerran and sophomore Minout Mink earning the honor.
• Woods (Beverly, Mass.) picks up her second straight ACC preseason accolade. The three-year starter is a two-time All-ACC and NFHCA All-Region pick and is a member of USA Field Hockey's National Team.
•McFerran (Larne, Northern Ireland) is also making her second appearance on the ACC Preseason Team. The two-time All-America selection and member of the Irish National Team led the league with six shutouts and stood second with a 1.27 goals-against average last season.
• Mink (Haaksbergen, Netherlands) earned NFHCA All-West region honors after leading the Cards with 15 goals and 33 points in 2016.

2017 ACC Field Hockey Preseason Poll
1. North Carolina (1) - 31
2. Duke (2) - 27
2. Syracuse (2) - 27
4. Louisville (1) - 22
5. Virginia (1) - 21
6. Wake Forest - 12
7. Boston College - 7

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Players Mentioned

Hollyn Barr

Abby Grimes

Marisa Martin Pelegrina

Ayeisha McFerran

Minout Mink

Marigrace Ragsdale

Meghan Schneider

Taylor Stone

Katie Walsh

Madison Walsh

Nicole Woods

University of Louisville Athletics