No. 9 Field Hockey Travels to Columbus to Face Ohio State and Kent State

The University of Louisville field hockey team will embark on its first road trip of the season this weekend when the ninth-ranked Cardinals head to Columbus, Ohio to face Ohio State Friday at 3 p.m. and Kent State Sunday at 12 p.m. in a neutral site game.

• The Cardinals bring a 2-0 record into the weekend after beating Indiana 4-1 and 2016 national champion, third-ranked Delaware 3-1 in their home-opening weekend.
• Hollyn Barr recently became the first Louisville player to earn Longstreth/NFHCA Defensive Player of the Week honors.
• UofL swept the first ACC Weekly Field Hockey awards of the season as Marisa Martin Pelegrina was named Offensive Player of the Week and Hollyn Barr was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week.
• Martin Pelegrina leads the team with two goals, three assists and seven points. Barr (2-0) carries a 1.00 goals against average and an .867 save percentage.
• Louisville enters the 2017 season ranked ninth in the NFHCA Preseason Coaches' Poll, marking the highest preseason showing in program history and UofL's 11th straight top 10 appearance dating back to Sept. 8, 2016.
• 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.
• 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 82-41 record at Louisville and has an overall 140-72 record while in her 11th season as a head coach.

The Weekend Ahead
Sept. 1: #9 Louisville at Ohio State
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Venue: Buckeye Varsity Field
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Television: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Live Scoring: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Twitter Updates: @ULFieldHockey

Sept. 3: #9 Louisville vs. Kent State
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Venue: Buckeye Varsity Field
Time: 12 p.m.
Television: None
Live Scoring: KentStateSports.com
Twitter Updates: @ULFieldHockey

Cards against the opponents
Ohio State
Series History: OSU leads 16-10 - Louisville has won the last five matchups.
Last Meeting: Sept. 18, 2016 - The sixth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team defeated Ohio State 2-1 at Trager Stadium.
• Nicole Woods and Minout Mink scored to give the Cards a 2-0 lead. Ayeisha McFerran had six saves in the game.
• Maddy Humphrey accounted for the Buckeye's goal while goalkeeper Liz Tamburro had five saves.
•The contest was evenly-matched with each team registering 14 shots and Ohio State holding a 7-6 edge in penalty corners.
Scouting the Buckeyes: Ohio State enters the weekend with a 1-0 record after defeating Lehigh 4-1 in its season opener. Maddy Humphrey, Natalie Faust, Kelsey Nolan and Sofia Haramis accounted for the Buckeyes' goals while Liz Tamburro collected one save in the shutout. The win marked first-year head coach Jarred Martin's first victory.
• OSU returns 18 letterwinners including 10 seniors from last year's team which finished with a 6-11 overall record and a 1-7 mark in Big Ten play.

Kent State
Series History: Kent State leads 23-11
The bulk of the series dates back to when Louisville was a member of the Mid-American Conference from 1994-2004. The Cardinals have won the last six meetings.
Last Meeting: Oct. 16, 2016 - UL won 3-2 at Trager Stadium. Freshman Minout Mink scored a pair of goals and senior Lizzie Gittens added another as the seventh-ranked Cards overcame a two-goal deficit to beat Kent State 3-2 in UofL's 2016 home finale at Trager Stadium.
•The game featured a fast-paced attack by both teams with Louisville owning a 17-14 advantage in shots and holding a 12-9 edge in penalty corners.
• Elina Pereira had one save and Ayeisha McFerran collected eight stops in the game.
• Ines Delpech and Laila Richter scored for the Golden Flashes while Andrea Rinehart had eight saves.
Scouting the Golden Flashes: Kent State (0-2) dropped its season opener at Rutgers 4-1 and followed with a 5-1 loss at Monmouth. Silvia Figa Malgosa and Helen Harper each scored for Kent State.

Up next
Following this weekend, the Cardinals will continue their six-game road swing with a trip to College Park, Md., where they will take on a pair of top 25 opponents starting with No. 21 American on Sept. 8 and No. 6 Maryland on Sept. 10.

Up last
The Cardinals opened the 2017 season with a pair of wins last weekend.
Louisville 4 - Indiana 1
• Freshman Marisa Martin Pelegrina scored a pair of goals and added two assists to help the ninth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team defeat visiting Indiana 4-1 in both teams' season opener Friday at Trager Stadium.
• In the game, Louisville held a 13-10 edge in shots while each team had six corners. Hollyn Barr collected six saves in her first career start.
Louisville 3 - Delaware 1
Sophomore Minout Mink scored twice, senior Marigrace Ragsdale dished out two assists and sophomore Hollyn Barr collected seven saves in her second career start to help lift the ninth-ranked Cardinals to a 3-1 win over defending national champion, third-ranked Delaware Sunday afternoon at Trager Stadium.
• In the game, the Cards held a 12-10 overall edge in shots with each team registering eight shots on goal. The Blue Hens had a 7-4 advantage in penalty corners in the contest.

Barr Tabbed NFHCA Defensive Player of the Week
The University of Louisville's Hollyn Barr was named the Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Defensive Player of the Week as announced on Wednesday, Aug. 30.
• 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 last year to just one goal.
• She becomes Louisville's first national player of the week since the award was established 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.

Young and talented
Louisville's 2017 roster features nine freshmen and six sophomores. After the first weekend of play, Louisville's starting lineup consisted of four freshmen and two sophomores with 11 underclassmen seeing playing time in the wins over Indiana and Delaware.
• Freshman Marisa Martin Pelegrina leads the team with seven points (2G, 3A) while sophomore Minout Mink is tied for the team lead with two goals. Fellow sophomore goalkeeper Hollyn Barr carries a 2-0 record and 1.00 goals against average.

Mink Continues to Shine
Minout Mink scored twice in the 3-1 win over No. 3 Delaware and is picking up where she left off after last year's impressive rookie campaign. The 2016 NFHCA All-West Region first team and All-ACC second team selection led the team with 15 goals, setting a school record for goals scored by a freshman.

Cards No. 9 in NFHCA Preseason Poll
UofL is No. 9 in the 2017 Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Preseason Poll, marking the highest preseason ranking in program history.
• The Cardinals have appeared in the NFHCA top 10 in 11 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 43rd 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 15 in the nation with five appearing in the top 10. The ninth-ranked Cardinals join North Carolina (No. 1), Duke (No. 2), Syracuse (No. 5) and Virginia (No. 10) in the top 10 while Boston College (No. 12) and Wake Forest (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 47 consecutive NFHCA Polls.

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

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.

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. 3 Delaware, No. 6 Maryland, No. 11 Michigan, No. 14 Northwestern, No. 19 James Madison and No. 21 American.

Home Sweet Home
Louisville is off to an impressive start to the 2017 season with a 2-0 record at Trager Stadium, bringing its home tally to 34-6 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 26-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.

No. 9 Field Hockey Travels to Columbus to Face Ohio State and Kent State

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Players Mentioned

Hollyn Barr

Lizzie Gittens

Marisa Martin Pelegrina

Ayeisha McFerran

Minout Mink

Elina Pereira

Marigrace Ragsdale

Meghan Schneider

Taylor Stone

Nicole Woods

University of Louisville Athletics