Eighth-ranked Cards Set for Opening Weekend

The eighth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team will officially open the 2018 season on Friday with a road trip to Bloomington, Ind., to face Indiana University at 3 p.m. The Cards will then welcome No. 24 Ohio State to Trager Stadium for the home opener on Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission is free to all home games.

Louisville Quick Hits
• Louisville stands at No 8 in the NFHCA preseason rankings, marking the 55th straight week Louisville has appeared in the top 20 rankings dating back to the 2013 season.
• 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.
• The Cards return 12 letterwinners and six starters including 2017 NFHCA All-Americans Taylor Stone and Ayeisha McFerran along with fellow All-NFHCA West Region selection Carter Ayars. In addition to the nucleus of returners, Louisville welcomes seven freshmen to the 2018 roster.
• Justine Sowry is in her eighth season at the helm for the Cardinals. The 2016 NFHCA West Region Coach of the Year has compiled a 94-49 record at Louisville and has an overall 152-80 record while in her 12th season as a head coach.

Aug. 24 @ Indiana, 3 p.m.
Television: BTN Plus
Location: Bloomington, Ind.
Venue: IU Field Hockey Complex
Live Scoring: IUHoosiers.com
Twitter Updates: ULFieldHockey

Aug. 26 vs. Ohio State 1 p.m.
Television: ACC Network Extra
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: Trager Stadium
Live Scoring: GoCards.com
Twitter Updates: ULFieldHockey

More Cardinal Quick Hits
• 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.

Cards Against the Field
Indiana
Series History: UL leads 13-7
Last Meeting: Aug. 25, 2017, UL won 4-1 at Trager Stadium
RECAP: Marisa Martin Pellegrina scored a pair of goals added two assists to help the ninth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team defeat visiting Indiana 4-1 in both teams' season opener at Trager Stadium. Abby Grimes and Taylor Stone also scored for the Cardinals and Ciara Girouar notched the Hoosiers' lone goal.
• 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, while Katie Johnson had five stops.
Scouting the Hoosiers: Indiana finished the 2017 season with a 6-13 record. The Hoosiers will be led by Big Ten preseason selection senior Taylor Swope and juniors Kelsey Giese and Ciara Girouard. Girouard was the second-leading goal scorer for Indiana in 2017, scoring seven. Swope led the Hoosiers in assists last season with four.

Ohio State
Series History: OSU leads 10-17
Last Meeting: Sept. 1, 2017, OSU won 2-1 in OT at Buckeye Varsity Field
RECAP: Casey Cole's overtime goal lifted host Ohio State to a 2-1 win over the ninth-ranked Cardinals at Buckeye Varsity Field. Marigrace Ragsdale gave Louisville a 1-0 lead, but Morgan Kile evened the score at 1-1 with under nine minutes left in regulation.
• Hollyn Barr posted three saves while Liz Tamburro had six stops for the Buckeyes. In the contest, the Cardinals outshot the Buckeyes 9-6, but OSU held a 4-2 edge in corners.
Scouting the Buckeyes: Tabbed at No. 24 in the preseason Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll, the Buckeyes will look to improve on their 10-9 overall record from last season with a cast of key returners and 11 newcomers. The Buckeyes' leading scorer from the 2017 squad is Esther Clotet Alsina, who tallied five goals and three assists. Seniors Casey Cole and Kelsey Nolan join Clotet Alsina as 2018 Big preseason honorees. Cole scored two game-winning goals last season and also added two assists, while Nolan competed in all 19 contests and earned a .417 shot-on-goal percentage.

Cards No. 8 in Penn Monto/NFHCA Preseason Rankings
UofL is No. 8 in the 2018 Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Poll released on August 21. The Cardinals earn the highest preseason ranking in program history and pick up where they left off after finishing the 2017 season at No. 8.
• This marks the 55th straight week Louisville has appeared in the top 20 rankings dating back to the 2013 season.
• The Cards spent six weeks in the top 10 in 2017 after debuting at No. 9 – previously the highest preseason ranking in program history.
• 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 14 in the nation with four appearing in the top 10. The eighth-ranked Cardinals join North Carolina (No. 2), Duke (No. 3) and Virginia (No. 7) in the top 10 while Syracuse (No. 11), Boston College (No. 13) and Wake Forest (No. 14) round out the ACC schools.
• Every ACC field hockey team has been ranked for the entirety of the last five seasons, a streak that dates to October of 2012 and includes 58 consecutive NFHCA Polls.

Tough Road Ahead
Ten of Louisville's 18 opponents appear in the NFHCA preseason top 25. In addition to the aforementioned ACC opponents, the Cardinals' non-conference slate features matchups against No. 9 Delaware, No. 12 Northwestern, No. 21 Albany and No. 24 Ohio State.

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 compiled a 9-3 record at Trager Stadium in 2017, bringing its home tally to 41-9 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.

McFerran Named World Cup Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament
Senior Ayeisha McFerran had a busy hockey-filled summer which culminated in being named Best Goalkeeper of the 2018 World Cup after leading the Irish National Team to a silver medal.
        The Larne, Northern Ireland native was instrumental in the Green Army's historic run, surrendering only three goals in their first five matches, and dominating in a pair of shootout victories as they entered the finals against top-ranked Netherlands. The Dutch went on to capture the gold medal with a 6-0 victory to mark their second straight and eighth overall title.
        Aided by McFerran's outstanding performances in the cage, Hockey Ireland became the first in the nation's history to reach the World Cup finals.
        Making its first World Cup appearance since 2002, Ireland entered the tournament at No. 16 in the FIH world rankings, the second lowest of any team competing in the World Cup and the lowest in their pool. They opened play with wins over the United States and India. Despite a loss to host England, the Irish emerged as the Pool B winner, becoming the first team to gain a spot in the quarterfinals.
        Facing India in a quarterfinal rematch, McFerran again posted shutout to send the contest to a shootout where she stopped two attempts as the Irish prevailed 3-1. She followed that performance with another shootout victory, this time turning back four tries help the Green Army emerge with a 3-2 win against Spain.
        McFerran is in her fourth year as a member of the Irish National Team. In 2017, she was named Goalkeeper of the Tournament after helping the Green Army to the World League 2 title in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
        McFerran is three-time NFHCA All-America selection. The three-time All-West Region and All-ACC team member cemented her status as one of the nation's top goalkeepers when she collected a career-high 18 saves and turned in another brilliant shootout performance to hold off No. 2 Duke in the semifinals of the conference tournament, sending the Cardinals to their first appearance in the ACC Championship game.

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)

McFerran, Stone named to Preseason All-ACC Team
McFerran is making her third appearance on the Preseason All-ACC Team. The three-time National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-American, all All-West Region and All-ACC selection cemented her status as one of the nation's top goalkeepers when she collected a career-high 18 saves and turned in another brilliant shootout performance to hold off Duke in the semifinals of the ACC Championship.
        The Larne, Northern Ireland native was recently named Goalkeeper of the Tournament after helping Ireland to a silver medal in the 2018 World Cup.
        Stone (Herndon, Va.) is making her first appearance on the Preseason All-ACC Team. The 2017 NFHCA All-America, All-West Region and All-ACC honoree is coming off of a career-best season after tallying seven goals and dishing out three assists. She converted four of five penalty stroke attempts and scored the game-winning goal against Syracuse and North Carolina.
        The midfielder/defender garnered ACC Defensive Player of the Week, NFHCA National Defensive Player of the Week and Synapse National Defensive Player of the Week for her performances. Stone is a member of USA Field Hockey National Development Squad.

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)

Looking Back to 2017
•UofL finished the 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.
• Louisville finished tied for second in the ACC regular season standings with a 4-2 conference record and earned the No. 3 seed in the ACC Championship. The four ACC wins were the most for the Cards since joining the conference in 2014.
• The Cardinals were ranked No. 8 in the final NFHCA Coaches' Poll, marking UofL's 54th straight appearance in the top 20 dating back to the 2013 season.
• Louisville placed a program-best three players on the Longstreth/NFHCA All-America teams. Ayeisha McFerran and Nicole Woods were selected to the first team, while Taylor Stone was named to the third team.
• Nicole Woods became Louisville's first NFHCA All-West Region Player of the Year in 2017. Joining her on the all-region first team were Ayeisha McFerran, Taylor Stone and Minout Mink. Carter Ayars was selected to the second team.
• Four players earned All-ACC recognition: Ayeisha McFerran earned her second All-ACC first team nod, while Nicole Woods garnered her fourth. Minout Mink was named to the second team for the second straight year and Taylor Stone made her All-ACC debut on the second team.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Carter Ayars

Hollyn Barr

Abby Grimes

Mackenzie Karl

Ayeisha McFerran

Minout Mink

Mercedes Pastor

Marigrace Ragsdale

Meghan Schneider

Taylor Stone

Katie Walsh

Nicole Woods

University of Louisville Athletics