No. 11 Field Hockey Hits the Road to Face No. 8 Boston College and New Hampshire

The 11th-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team will hit the road for a pair of contests this weekend. Louisville will face it's eighth ranked opponent in the last nine games with an ACC matchup at No. 8 Boston College Friday at 6 p.m. and will wrap up the weekend at New Hampshire Sunday at 12 p.m.

Cardinal Quick Hits
• Louisville enters the weekend with an 8-4 overall record and a 2-1 mark in ACC play and currently in a three-way tie for second in league standings. The Cardinals are ranked No. 11 in the NFHCA Coaches' Poll, marking UofL's 48th straight appearance in the top 20 dating back to the 2013 season.
• Last weekend, the Cards defeated pushed their win streak to four straight games starting with a dramatic 2-1 double overtime win against No. 7 Syracuse and finished with a 2-0 victory over Central Michigan.
• Sophomore Minout Mink leads the team with six goals and 13 points. Freshman Marisa Martin Pelegrina is tied with Mink atop team standings with 13 points (4G, 5A). Senior co-captain Nicole Woods rounds out the top three scorers with 12 points (5G, 2A).
• Ayeisha McFerran (3-3), holds a 1.65 goals against average in nine 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 an 88-45 record at Louisville and has an overall 146-76 record while in her 11th season as a head coach.
• 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.

The Weekend Ahead
Oct. 6, 2017
Louisville at Boston College
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Newton, Mass.
Venue: Newton Campus Field Hockey Complex
Television: ACC Network Extra
Live Scoring: BCEagles.com
Twitter Updates: @ULFieldHockey
Oct. 8, 2017
Louisville at New Hampshire
Time: 12 p.m.
Location: Durham, N.H.
Venue: Memorial Field
TV/Live Scoring: UNHWildcats.com
Twitter Updates: @ULFieldHockey

Cards against the opponents
Boston College
Series History: UL leads 3-2
Last Meeting: Oct. 17, 2016 - BC won 3-1 at Trager Stadium. Frederique Haverhals and Eryn McCoy gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead in the first half before Shannon Sloss cut the deficit in half. Lucy Lytle added an insurance goal.
• The teams finished with 10 shots apiece while Louisville held a 6-3 advantage in penalty corners. Ayeisha McFerran collected four saves in the game. Audra Hampsch had two stops in the contest for BC.
Scouting the Eagles: Boston College brings an 8-4 overall record into Friday's contest and are coming off of a 4-0 win at New Hampshire- the Cardinals' Sunday opponent. The Eagles are 0-4 in ACC play, most recently falling to Duke 3-2 in a shootout.
• Brooke Matherson leads the team with five goals and 11 points while Jaime Natale and Fusine Govaert have four goals apiece. Sarah Dwyer carries a 1.65 goals against average.

New Hampshire
Series History: UL leads 4-0
Last Meeting: Aug. 31, 2014 - Louisville won 4-2 at Trager Stadium. Alyssa Voelmle scored twice while Stephanie Byrne and Elisa Garcia added goals for the Cardinals. Lindsey Nerbonne and Emma Compagna scored for the Wildcats while Carlie Tarbell registered six saves.
Scouting the Wildcats: New Hampshire enters the weekend with a 4-6 overall record prior to Friday matchup with UMass-Lowell.
• The Wildcats are coming off of a 4-0 loss to the Cardinals' Friday opponent, Boston College. Prior to that, they defeated Vermont 3-1.
• Katie Audino leads the team with four goals and 11 points. Bloem van den Brekel follows with nine points (3G, 3A). Kelsey Rudert carries a 2.96 goals against average.

Last weekend: The Cardinals extended their win streak to four games and pushed their home record to 6-0 on the season with wins over No. 7 Syracuse and Central Michigan.

#12 Louisville 2 - #7 Syracuse 1 (2OT)
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 in an ACC matchup Friday evening at Trager Stadium.
• 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 erase a 1-0 deficit and junior Ayeisha McFerran collected five saves in the game.
#12 Louisville 2 - #7 Syracuse 1 (2OT)
Sophomore Minout Mink tallied her team-best sixth goal of the season and senior Nicole Woods notched her fifth goal as the Cardinals (8-4) collected their fourth straight victory and improved to 6-0 on the season at home.

Up Next: The Cardinals will resume ACC play when they travel to No. 6 North Carolina on Oct. 14.

Young and talented
The Cardinals' 2017 roster features nine freshmen and six sophomores. Through the first half of the season, Louisville's starting lineup has featured as many as three freshmen and three sophomores with all active underclassmen seeing playing time.
• Freshman Marisa Martin Pelegrina leads teh team with 13 points (4G, 5A). Sophomore Minout Mink has scored a team-high five goals and stands second with 11 points. Fellow sophomore goalkeeper Hollyn Barr carries a 4-1 record and 1.12 goals against average.

Balanced offense
Louisville has scored 25 goals through eight games this season with nine different players accounting for the offensive output. Sophomore Minout Mink leads the team with six goals while senior Nicole Woods follows with five scores. Freshman Marisa Martin Pelegrina has chipped in four goals.

Mink Shines
With a team-best six goals on the season, sophomore Minout Mink is picking 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.

Louisville stands at No. 13 in the RPI
The NCAA has released its third RPI report of the season and the Cardinals stand at No. 13, up two spots from last week. UofL is no stranger to facing quality competition and this season is no different with 11 of its 18 opponents appearing among the top 20. Below is a list of Louisville's 2017 opponents who are included in the NCAA's top 25 RPI.
2. Duke
3. Virginia
4. Michigan
5. Northwestern
7. Boston College
9. North Carolina
10. Delaware
14. Syracuse
15. James Madison
17. Wake Forest
18. Maryland

Cards No. 11 in NFHCA Rankings
UofL is No. 11 in the 2017 Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Poll released on Oct. 3, moving up one spots after defeating No. 7 Syracuse and Central Michigan. The Cards spent two weeks in the top 10 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 48th 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 with six appearing in the top 10. The league boasts five teams in the top 10: Duke (No. 2), Virginia (No. 4), Syracuse (No. 6), North Carolina (No. 7) and Boston College (No. 8) while Wake Forest stands at No. 11 and Louisville is No. 15.
• 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 50 consecutive NFHCA Polls.

Barr Tabbed NFHCA Defensive Player of the Week
Hollyn Barr was named the Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Defensive Player of the Week as announced on Wednesday, Aug. 30.
• She became Louisville's first national player of the week since the award was established in 2016.
• Barr helped the Cardinals open the season with a pair of wins over Indiana and defending national champion, third-ranked Delaware. She totaled 13 saves and surrendered only two goals in her first career starts. In the Cardinals' 4-1 victory over Indiana, she posted six saves to pick up her first career win. She followed that performance with seven stops against the Blue Hens on Sunday. In that game, Barr helped the Cardinals hold a Delaware offense that ranked third in the nation in scoring in 2016.

Cards Sweep First 2017 ACC Weekly Honors
Marisa Martin Pelegrina has been named ACC Field Hockey Offensive Player of the Week, while teammate Hollyn Barr was named Defensive Player of the Week.
• Martin Pelegrina made an impressive college debut with two goals and two assists in the Cardinals' season-opening 4-1 win over Indiana on Friday. In that game, she played a part in each of Louisville goals, her two shots in the game resulted in a pair of goals and she delivered assists on the other two goals in the 4-1 win. On Sunday, the freshman dished out her third assist of the season to give the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead against reigning national champion, No. 3 Delaware. Martin Pelegrina led the Cardinals on the weekend with two goals, three assists and seven points.
•Barr finished the weekend with a 2-0 record, tallied 13 saves and while posting a 1.00 goals against average and an .867 save percentage.

Tough road ahead
Twelve of Louisville's 18 opponents appear in the NFHCA preseason top 25. In addition to their ACC opponents, the Cardinals' non-conference slate features matchups against No. 4 Michigan, No. 7 Delaware, No. 10 Northwestern, No. 16 James Madison, No. 17 Maryland and No. 24 American.

Home Sweet Home
Louisville is off to an impressive start to the 2017 season with a 6-0 record at Trager Stadium, bringing its home tally to 38-6 since the 2013 season. In 2016, the Cards 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.
• Louisville carries a 28-game win streak against non-conference opponents at Trager Stadium. The Cardinals have 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.)

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.

No. 11 Field Hockey Hits the Road to Face No. 8 Boston College and New Hampshire

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Players Mentioned

Hollyn Barr

Stephanie Byrne

Marisa Martin Pelegrina

Ayeisha McFerran

Minout Mink

Meghan Schneider

Shannon Sloss

Taylor Stone

Madison Walsh

Nicole Woods

University of Louisville Athletics