No. 8 Cardinals Travel to No. 15 Virginia

The No. 8 University of Louisville field hockey team will travel to Charlottesville, Va., to take on No. 15 Virginia in an ACC matchup Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Weekend Ahead
Sept. 29 at Virginia, 1 p.m.
Television: ACC Network Extra
Announcers: Jack Benjamin and Rachel Ryan
Location: Charlottesville, Va.
Venue: Turf Stadium
Live Scoring: Virginiasports.com
Twitter Updates: ULFieldHockey

About Louisville
• The Cardinals bring a 7-3 overall record and a 1-2 mark in ACC play into the weekend.
• Erica Cooper leads the team with six goals and 12 points. The freshman accounted for all of the scoring in Sunday's 4-0 victory over Appalachian State, becoming the first Louisville player to score four goals in a game since Sept. 17, 2010 when Nicole Youman accomplished the feat against Georgetown.
• Senior Katie Walsh has dished out a team-best four assists and stands tied for sixth in the ACC in that category.
• Senior goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran has posted shutouts in three of the last four games. The three-time NFHCA All-America selection carries a 1.39 goals against average.
• The Cards stand at No 8 in the NFHCA rankings released on Sept. 25. This marks the 59th 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 101-52 record at Louisville with an overall 160-84 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.

Cards Against the Field
Virginia
Series History: UVA leads 7-2
Last Meeting: Oct. 21, 2017 - UVA won 2-1 at Trager Stadium
RECAP: Taylor Stone gave the seventh-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team a 1-0 lead, but a pair of second-half goals lifted third-ranked Virginia to a 2-1 win over the Cardinals at Trager Stadium.
• Izzie McDonough evened the score in the second half and Pien Dicke notched the game winner with 2:09 left to play.
• In the game, UVA owned a 9-8 edge in shots and a 5-3 lead in corners. Ayeisha McFerran had three saves while Carrera Lucas also finished with three stops for the Cavaliers.
Scouting the Cavaliers: No. 15 Virginia enters the weekend with a 4-5 overall record and a 1-2 mark in ACC play. The Cavaliers used two overtimes to beat Syracuse in their conference opener, but then fell to Boston College 2-0 last weekend and lost 3-0 to top-ranked North Carolina in a reschedule midweek contest on Wednesday.
• Grace Wallis leads the team with four goals, five assist and 13 points. Goalkeeper Carrera Lucas carries a 1.32 goals against average with two shutouts on the season.

Recapping Last Week
The Cards traveled to the state of North Carolina for a pair of matches and came away with a 1-1 record. Louisville opened the weekend at Wake Forest and took the lead twice, but the Demon Deacons tallied three unanswered goals in the second half to secure the win. On Sunday, freshman Erica Cooper helped the Cardinals rebound by scoring all four goals - three of them unassisted - in a 4-0 victory at Appalachian State.
Wake Forest 4 - Louisville 2
The seventh-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team lost 4-2 to Wake Forest in an ACC matchup at Wake Forest's Kettner Stadium.
• Louisville held a 2-1 lead midway through the second half behind goals from Bethany Russ and Whena Munn, but Wake Forest capitalized on three penalty corners to score three unanswered goals, snapping the Cardinals' three-match win streak.
Louisville 4 - Appalachian State 0
Erica Cooper delivered a career-best four goals to lead the seventh-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team to a 4-0 win over Appalachian State at Adcock Field.
• In the game, Louisville outshot Appalachian State 14-6 with a 10-2 lead in shots on goal. The Cardinals also held a 5-2 advantage in corners. McFerran collected two saves while recording her third shutout of the season.
• In the game, Wake Forest outshot Louisville 15-4 - including a 9-2 margin in shots on goal and held a 7-2 advantage in corners. McFerran collected five saves in the contest.

Up Next
Louisville will wrap up its four-game road stretch with a midweek contest at Ball State on Oct. 3, before returning to the friendly confines of Trager Stadium where the Cards will play host to Michigan State on Oct. 7.

Cards No. 10 in NCAA RPI
Louisville appears at No. 10 in the NCAA's initial RPI report of the 2018 season which was released on Sept. 25, dropping four spots after debuting at No. 6 in the initial report.
• UofL is no stranger to facing quality competition and this season is no different with seven of its 17 opponents appearing among the top 18. Below is a list of Louisville's 2018 opponents who are included among the NCAA's RPI leaders.
1. North Carolina
4. Duke
9. Northwestern
11. Boston College
13. California
15. Virginia
18. Delaware

Cards No. 8 in Penn Monto/NFHCA Rankings
UofL is No. 8 in the 2018 Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Poll released on Sept. 25. The Cardinals slid one spot from their previous season-best No. 7 ranking after falling to then-unranked Wake Forest and beating Appalachian State last weekend.
• This marks the fourth top-10 appearance in five 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 58th 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.

Cooper Shines in Rookie Season
Freshman Erica Cooper is having an impressive rookie season thus far. The Louisville, Ky., native has played in all 10 games with eight starts and leads the team with six goals and 12 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. The redshirt sophomore has recorded a point via a goal or an assist in each of the last three games and stands second on the team with four goals and nine points.

ACC Strong
All seven ACC field hockey programs are ranked among the top 21 in the nation with four appearing in the top 10. North Carolina (1), Duke (4), Louisville (8) and Boston College (9) represent the league in the top 10 while Syracuse (11) and Wake Forest (21) 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. 19 Delaware, No. 10 Northwestern, No. 22 Albany and No. 23 Ohio State.

Balanced scoring
Eight different players have combined to score 19 goals this season. Freshman Erica Cooper leads the team with six goals while redshirt sophomore Bethany Russ follows with four.

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

McFerran earns ACC and NFHCA Defensive Player of the Week honors
Ayeisha McFerran was named the ACC and Longstreth/National Field Hockey Division I Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 19.
• McFerran (Larne, Northern Ireland) collected six saves as Louisville posted back-to-back shutout wins against a pair of ranked opponents over the weekend. The senior goalkeeper had five saves Friday, helping the Cardinals to their first Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) win of the season as they defeated No. 9 Boston College 1-0. She also had a crucial save to ensure Louisville's 1-0 win on Sunday against No. 11 Northwestern University.

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 3-2 record at Trager Stadium this season, with three straight wins at its home facility, bringing the Cardinals' home tally to 44-11 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.

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 (2018-19)

University of Louisville Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Carter Ayars

Erica Cooper

Mackenzie Karl

Ayeisha McFerran

Whena Munn

Mercedes Pastor

Bethany Russ

Meghan Schneider

Taylor Stone

Katie Walsh

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