No. 15 Field Hockey Plays Host to No. 11 Wake Forest and No. 13 JMU this Weekend

After wrapping up a three-week road stretch which included games against four ranked opponents, Louisville will return to the friendly confines of Trager Stadium this weekend to face No. 11 Wake Forest in an ACC matchup on Friday at 6 p.m. and No. 13 James Madison on Sunday at 12 p.m. Admission is free.

Friday's field hockey action will start with a neutral site matchup between No. 13 James Madison and Ball State at 3:30 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear black for the Cardinals' 6 p.m. contest against ACC foe Wake Forest. The Cards return to action with a non-conference contest against JMU – Louisville's sixth consecutive top 20 opponent. Wake Forest and Miami (Ohio) are slated to play at 2:30 p.m.

The Weekend Ahead
Sept. 22: No. 11 Wake Forest at No. 15 Louisville, 6 p.m.
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: Trager Stadium
Promotion: Black Out – T-Shirts to first 200 fans; Cardinal Cup, Student-Appreciation Night
Television: None
Live Scoring: GoCards.com
Twitter Updates: @ULFieldHockey

Sept. 24: No. 13 JMU at No. 15 Louisville, 12 p.m.
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: Trager Stadium
Promotion: Louisville Field Hockey Stadium Cup Giveaway (while supplies last)
Television: ACC Network Extra (Announcers: Cortnee Walton and Suzanne Irwin Bush)
Live Scoring: GoCards.com
Twitter Updates: @ULFieldHockey

• Louisville (4-4, 0-1 ACC) enters the weekend ranked No. 15 in the NFHCA Preseason Coaches' Poll, marking UofL's 45th straight appearance in the top 20 dating back to the 2013 season.
• Senior co-captain Nicole Woods leads the Cardinals with four goals and nine points. Freshman Marisa Martin Pelegrina also has nine points with three goals and three assists. Sophomore Minout Mink stands tied for second on the team with three goals.
• Ayeisha McFerran (0-3) holds a 2.45 goals against average in five appearances after being sidelined due to injury for the first three games of the season.
•Hollyn Barr (4-1) carries a 1.12 goals against average and an .773 save percentage.
• 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 84-45 record at Louisville and has an overall 142-76 record while in her 11th season as a head coach.
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.

Cards against the opponents
Wake Forest
Series History: Wake leads 11-4
Last Meeting: Sept. 23, 2016 - UL won 2-0 in Winston-Salem.
• Lotta Kahlert and Lizzie Gittens each score a goal. The Cardinals fired off 15 shots in the game, eight of them landing on goal. The Louisville defense held Wake Forest to three shots in the game and Ayeisha McFerran posted two saves.
Scouting the Demon Deacons: No. 11 Wake Forest enters the weekend with a 4-3 overall record and a 2-0 mark in ACC play. The Demon Deacons are currently on a three-game win streak with impressive victories over No. 4 North Carolina (3-1), No. 23 Ohio State (3-1) and most recently a 3-1 overtime win against No. 3 Syracuse.
• Jule Grashoff leads the team with six goals and 13 points. Emily Adamson follows with three goals and six points.
• Isla Bint (3-1) carries a 2.70 goals against average with 23 saves.

James Madison
Series History: Tied 2-2
Last Meeting: Sept. 20, 2015 - Louisville won 5-0
• Victoria Stratton opened scoring for the Louisville, followed by Stephanie Byrne. Nicole Woods lead the Cardinals for the night registering two goals in the second half and Shannon Sloss recorded their final goal, giving the Cardinals the 5-0 win.
Scouting the Dukes: No. 13 James Madison enters the weekend with a 5-2 record. The Dukes are coming off back to back losses to Duke (3-1) and North Carolina (3-0)
• Duke is led offensively by forward Miranda Rigg with 13 points (6G, 1A). Ashley Gippe follows with eight points (four goals).
• In goal, Sara Kraeutler (4-2) carries a 1.65 goals against average with 27 saves and two shutouts on the season.

Last weekend: The 11th-ranked Cards team fell 5-0 to No. 4 Duke in their ACC opener Friday evening at Duke's Jack Katz Stadium.
• In the game, the Blue Devils outshot Louisville 20-2 and held a 5-2 edge in penalty corners. Junior Ayeisha McFerran (0-2) collected six saves in the game while junior Taylor Stone paced the Cardinals with two shots. Sammie Steele posted her fourth shutout of the season for Duke.
• 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.

Up Next: The Cardinals will face their seventh consecutive ranked opponent on Sept. 29 when No. 6 Syracuse visits Trager Stadium for an ACC matchup.

Young and talented
The Cardinals' 2017 roster features nine freshmen and six sophomores. Through the first month 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 is tied among the team leaders with nine points (3G, 3A) while sophomore Minout Mink is tied for the team lead with three goals and has one assist. Fellow sophomore goalkeeper Hollyn Barr carries a 4-1 record and 1.12 goals against average.

Balanced offense
Louisville has scored 15 goals through eight games this season with seven different players accounting for the offensive output. Nicole Woods leads the team with four goals while Minout Mink and Marisa Martin Pelegrina have tallied three scores apiece.

Mink Shines
With three 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. 14 in first RPI
The NCAA has released the first RPI report of the season and the Cardinals debut at No. 14. 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 20 RPI.
2. Duke
3. Boston College
4. Virginia
5. James Madison
8. Delaware
9. Michigan
10. Northwestern
11. Wake Forest
12. Maryland
15. Syracuse
16. North Carolina

Cards No. 15 in NFHCA Rankings
UofL is No. 15 in the 2017 Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Poll released on Sept. 19, dropping four spots after falling 5-0 to then-No. 4 Duke. The Cards spent two weeks in the top 10 after debuted 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 46th 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.

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. 6 Delaware, No. 9 Maryland, No. 8 Michigan, No. 14 Northwestern, No. 13 James Madison and No. 22 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.

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.

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

No. 15 Field Hockey Plays Host to No. 11 Wake Forest and No. 13 JMU this Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Hollyn Barr

Stephanie Byrne

Lizzie Gittens

Lotta Kahlert

Marisa Martin Pelegrina

Ayeisha McFerran

Minout Mink

Meghan Schneider

Shannon Sloss

Taylor Stone

Nicole Woods

University of Louisville Athletics