No. 10 Cards Play Host to No. 4 Duke, Miami (Ohio) this Weekend

Friday, October 12

LOUISVILLE, KY

6:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

DUKE

Seniors Katie Walsh, Ayeisha McFerran, Taylor Stone and Maria Gomez pose for a photo

Photo by: Jeff Reinking | Louisville Athletics

No. 10 Cards Play Host to No. 4 Duke, Miami (Ohio) this Weekend

October 11, 2018 | Field Hockey

ACC Network Watch Link vs. Duke ACC Network Extra Watch Link vs. Miami (Ohio) Live scoring

Cards face No. 4 Duke in a top 10 matchup Friday at 6 p.m.; take on Miami (Ohio) on Senior Day Sunday

By: Lori Korte

The tenth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team will play host to No. 4 Duke and Miami (Ohio) in its final home weekend.

The Cardinals will take on the Blue Devils in a top-10 ACC matchup Friday at 6 p.m. On Sunday at 12 p.m., UofL will face Miami (Ohio) and honor seniors Maria Gomez, Ayeisha McFerran, Taylor Stone and Katie Walsh following their final game at Trager Stadium. Admission is free.

About Louisville
• The Cardinals bring a 10-3 overall record and a 2-2 mark in ACC play into the weekend. Louisville stands tied with Boston College for third in the ACC while Duke is second with a 3-2 league record.
• Freshman Erica Cooper leads the team with eight goals and is tied for the team lead with 16 points along with sophomore Bethany Russ (7G, 2A). Russ has recorded a point in each of the last six games.
• Senior Katie Walsh has dished out a team-best seven assists and stands tied for fifth in the ACC in that category.
• Current ACC Defensive Player of the Week Ayeisha McFerran has posted shutouts in four of the last five games. The three-time NFHCA All-America selection carries a 1.24 goals against average.
• The Cards stand at No. 10 in the NFHCA rankings released on Oct. 9. This marks the 61st straight week Louisville has appeared in the top 20 rankings dating back to the 2013 season.
• Louisville's 1-0 win over then-No. 11 Northwestern on Sept. 16 marked head coach Justine Sowry's 100th win at UofL.
• Sowry is in her eighth season at the helm and has compiled a 104-52 record at Louisville with an overall 162-83 mark while in her 12th season as a head coach.
• UofL was picked to finish third in the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championship, according to a vote of the league's seven head coaches. Seniors Ayeisha McFerran and Taylor Stone were also named to the Preseason All-ACC Team.
• UofL finished the 2017 season with a 14-8 overall record and made its fourth straight and seventh overall NCAA appearance. The Cardinals reached the finals of the ACC championship after defeating No. 11 Syracuse 3-2 in the program's first ACC quarterfinal victory and following with a thrilling 3-2 shootout win over No. 2 Duke in the semifinals.

Senior salute
On Sunday, the Cardinals will honor seniors Maria Gomez, Ayeisha McFerran, Taylor Stone and Katie Walsh. Entering the weekend, this group has won 52 games while compiling an impressive 34-10 record at Trager Stadium.
• The class has helped the program reach several milestones including NCAA appearances in each of their three seasons.
• In 2017, they helped the Cardinals to a program-best 4-2 record in ACC play and finished tied for second in the conference. They each played an integral role in Louisville's historic run to the ACC finals after a dramatic shootout win over Duke in the semifinals.
• Their teams have been a mainstay in the national top 20 rankings throughout their careers, while spending 35 weeks among the top 10, reaching as high as No.7 twice.

Cards Against the Field
Duke
Series History: Duke leads 10-4
Last Meeting: Nov. 3, 2017 - UL won 3-2 in a shootout in the semifinals of the ACC Championship at Trager Stadium.
Recap: Behind a career high 18 saves from Ayeisha McFerran, the No. 10-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team earned a thrilling 3-2 shootout victory over the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament semifinals at Trager Stadium. With the win, the third-seeded Cardinals earned their first trip to the ACC championship game in program history.
•Marisa Martin Pelegrina gave Louisville a 1-0 lead entering halftime. Duke's Alyssa Chillano evened the score midway through the second half. Louisville countered with a goal from Minout Mink. Duke lifted its goalkeeper in favor of an extra player and the move paid off with a goal from Ashley Kristen with 25 seconds on the clock to send the game into overtime.
• In the game, Louisville withstood Duke's 21-8 advantage in shots and 11-2 lead in corners as the Cardinals avenged a regular season 5-0 loss to the Blue Devils when the teams met in Durham on Sept. 15.
NOTE: The Blue Devils are coached by Pam Bustin who is in her eighth season at Duke. Prior to that, Bustin spent 13 seasons (1998-2010) as Louisville's head coach. Current Louisville head Justine Sowry served as an assistant under Bustin from 1998-2002.
Scouting the Blue Devils: No. 4 Duke enters the weekend with an 11-3 overall record and stands second in the ACC with a 3-1 mark in league play. The Blue Devils bring a five-game winning streak into Friday's matchup, most recently collected a pair of top-25 wins against then-No. 18 Virginia (1-0) and No. 22 Old Dominion (5-1).
•The Blue Devils are led by current ACC Offensive Player of the Week Rose Tynan's 12 goals to go with five assists for 29 points.
• Goalkeeper Sammi Steele carries a 1.46 goals against average with four shutouts on the season.
Cardinal Connection: Louisville sophomore Alli Bitting will see a familar face on Friday - her sister, Morgan Bitting, is a senior midfielder for the Blue Devils.

Cards Against the Field
Miami (Ohio)
Series History: MU leads 23-16 - Louisville has won the last 13 meetings
Last Meeting: Aug. 29, 2016 - UL won 2-0 in Oxford, Ohio
Recap: Then-No. 12 University of Louisville field hockey team got second-half goals from freshman Minout Mink and senior Lotta Kahlert en route to a 2-0 win over Miami (Ohio). In the game, Louisville had 14 shots with six of those landing on-goal as Miami's Alysa Xavier had four saves in the game. The Cardinals held a 7-2 advantage in penalty corners overall.
Scouting the RedHawks: Miami enters the weekend with a 9-5 overall record and carries a perfect 4-0 record in Mid-American Conference play prior to a Friday matchup at Saint Louis. The RedHawks have won six of their last seven games, most recently falling 2-1 at No. 18 Virginia on Sunday.
• The RedHawks are led by current MAC Offensive Player of the Week Paula Portugal who has registered 15 goals to go along with three assists for 33 points. Kendall Hunker was also recently named MAC Defensive Player of the Week after helping the RedHawks post their fourth consecutive shutout in league play.
• Maddie Passarella carries a 1.09 goals against average and a .712 save percentage with five shutouts on the season.

Up Last
Louisville 4 - Michigan State 1
The ninth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team got goals from four different players en route to a 4-1 victory over Michigan State Sunday afternoon at Trager Stadium.
• Bethany Russ, Taylor Stone and Elizabeth Allgeier and Erica Cooper tallied first-half goals as the Cardinals built a 4-0 lead in the first half.
Louisville 5 - Ball State 1
Taylor Stone scored a pair of goals to help lead the ninth-ranked Cardinals to a 5-1 win over Ball State Wednesday afternoon at Briner Sports Stadium.
• Louisville used a season-high 24 shots, 11 on goal, to produce its highest scoring output of the 2018 campaign. In addition to Stone's goals, Erica Cooper notched her team-best seventh goal while Bethany Russ added her sixth score of the season. Alli Bitting registered pair of assists and Katie Walsh also dished out two feeds to bring her team-high tally to six.

Up Next
Louisville will wrap up ACC play on Oct. 19 when they travel to No. 9 Syracuse. They will continue their New York swing with a Sunday matchup at No. 23 Albany.

Cards No. 16 in NCAA RPI
Louisville appears at No. 16 in the NCAA most recent RPI report released on Oct. 10 dropping five spots from last week.
• UofL is no stranger to facing quality competition and this season is no different with eight of its 17 opponents appearing among the top 19. Below is a list of Louisville's 2018 opponents who are included among the NCAA's RPI leaders.
2. North Carolina
4. Duke
6. Syracuse
12. Boston College
13. Wake Forest
15. Delaware
17. Northwestern
19. Virginia

Cards No. 10 in Penn Monto/NFHCA Rankings
UofL is No. 10 in the 2018 Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Poll released on Oct. 2. The Cardinals slipped one spot after a pair of wins over Ball State and Michigan State last week.
• This marks the sixth top-10 appearance in six ranking periods for Cards this season. Louisville debuted at No. 8 in the preseason poll, the highest preseason ranking in program history.
• In 2017 Louisville appeared in the top 10 six times, reaching as high as No. 7 on Oct. 17, 2017.
• This marks the 60th straight week Louisville has 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.

Stingy Defense
Senior Ayeisha McFerran and the Cardinals' defense have turned in some impressive performances lately with four shutouts.
• Overall, McFerran stands second in the ACC with a 1.17 goals against average with a league-best four shutouts on the season, but in the past seven games, has limited opponents to a 0.75 goals against average dating back to Sept. 14 when the Cards posted a 1-0 win against Boston College.

McFerran for the Win
Ayeisha McFerran has earned 47 career wins and currently stands second on the NCAA's list for active goalkeeper victories - one behind Penn State's Jenny Rizzo who has 48.
• Below is a breakdown of the top five active goalkeeper career victories.
Goalie                                               Wins
1 Jenny Rizzo , Penn St.                       48
2 Ayeisha McFerran , Louisville         47
3   Sarah Holliday , Maryland                45
4 Sammi Steele , Duke                        43
5 Carrera Lucas , Virginia                    40
• McFerran stepped into a starting role as a freshman and has established an impressive collegiate career, earning NFHCA All-America honors in each of her seasons at UofL. The senior also stands third on Louisville's all-time list for career goalkeeper victories, needing three more to move into a tie for second with Marie-Claire Heller (2004-07) and five more to tie for first with Christy Hershey (2000-03).

Cooper Shines in Rookie Season
Freshman Erica Cooper is having an impressive rookie season thus far. The Louisville, Ky., native has played in all 13 games with eight starts and leads the team with eight goals and is tied for the team lead with 16 points.
• Cooper tallied all four goals in the 4-0 win at Appalachian State on Sept. 23. With her performance, Cooper became the first Louisville player to score four goals in a game since Sept. 17, 2010 when Nicole Youman tallied four against Georgetown.

Russ Back in Action
After being sidelined by injury in 2017, Bethany Russ has returned to form this season with a career-high seven goals thus far. The redshirt sophomore has recorded a point via a goal or an assist in each of the last seven games and is tied for the team lead with 16 points.
• Four of her seven goals have stood as gamewinners, placing her tied for second in the ACC in that category.

ACC Strong
All seven ACC field hockey programs are ranked among the top 20in the nation with four appearing in the top 10. North Carolina (1), Duke (4), Syracuse (9) and Louisville (10) represent the league in the top 10 while Boston College (12) and Wake Forest (16) and Virginia (20) round out the ranked ACC schools.

Tough Road Ahead
Ten of Louisville's 17 opponents appear in the NFHCA top 25. In addition to the aforementioned six ACC opponents, the Cardinals' non-conference slate features matchups against No. 15 Northwestern, No. 18 Delaware, No. 22 Ohio State and No. 23 Albany.

Balanced scoring
Eight different players have combined to score 30 goals this season with seven of those players recording multiple goals. Freshman Erica Cooper leads the team with eight goals while redshirt sophomore Bethany Russ follows closely with seven.

Walsh dishing it out
Senior Katie Walsh leads the team with a career-high seven assists on the season and is tied for fifth in ACC standings.

Championship City
For the second straight year and the sixth time overall, Trager Stadium will serve as the host site for the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship. The event was also staged on the Cardinals' home field in 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2017. 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.

Home Sweet Home
Louisville owns a 4-2 record at Trager Stadium this season, with three straight wins at the Cardinals' home facility, bringing its home tally to 45-11 since the 2013 season.
• Louisville compiled a 9-3 record at Trager Stadium in 2017.
• 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.
Carter Ayars - U.S. U21 Team (2018)
Mackenzie Karl - U.S. U17 Team (2015-16)
Ayeisha McFerran - Irish National Team (2015-present)
    • 2018 FIH World Cup Silver Medal -
    - Goalkeeper of the Tournament
    • 2017 World League 2 Champions
    - Goalkeeper of the Tournament
Mercedes Pastor - Argentina U21 Team (2015-17); U18 Team (2013-14)
Meghan Schneider - U.S. U21 Team (2018); U19 Team (2017-18)
Taylor Stone - U.S. National Development Team (2018); U21 Team (2017); U19 Team (2015-16); U17 Team (2014-15)
    • Also played in 2017 Maccabiah Games in Jerusalem
Katie Walsh - U.S. National Development Team (2018-19)

Cards picked to finish third in ACC
The University of Louisville was picked to finish third in the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championship, according to a vote of the league's seven head coaches.
2018 ACC Field Hockey Predicted Order of Finish:
1. North Carolina (6) - 48
2. Duke - 39
3. Louisville (1) - 34
T4. Syracuse - 23
T4. Virginia - 23
6. - Boston College - 16
7. - Wake Forest – 13
(First-place votes)