Pastor Named to 2019 Preseason All-ACC Team

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – University of Louisville junior midfielder Mercedes Pastor was named to the Preseason All-ACC Field Hockey Team and the Cardinals were picked to finish four in the regular season standings in a vote of the league's seven head coaches.

Defending national champion North Carolina has been selected to repeat as Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey champion while Duke and Virginia rounded out the top three in the preseason vote.

Pastor (Buenos Aires, Argentina) earned 2018 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) all-America honors after starting every in her first season at Louisville. The NFHCA all-West Region and all-ACC first team selection tallied five goals, including the game-winner in double overtime at No. 15 Syracuse and the deciding goal in overtime against California. Pastor also dished out three assists to bring her point total to 13 in 2018.

UofL finished the 2018 season with a 13-6 overall record and ranked No. 14 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) poll after earning the No. 3 seed in the 2018 ACC Championship. UofL will return 18 letterwinners from that team including Pastor and fellow All-West Region selections Carter Ayars, Alli Bitting and Bethany Russ. The Cards welcome six newcomers to the 2019 roster.

• Justine Sowry enters her ninth season During that time, she has guided the Cardinals to 107 wins, four NCAA tournament appearances along with a conference title and a runner-up finish in the ACC Championship. In the eight seasons that Sowry has been at the helm, UofL has produced 12 NFHCA All-America selections and 32 All-Region team members.

About ACC Field Hockey
ACC teams have won 19 of the 38 NCAA field hockey titles, including 12 of the last 17, and at least one ACC squad has advanced to the national championship game in 19 of the last 20 years. Four ACC teams earned bids to the 2018 NCAA Field Hockey Championship, marking the sixth consecutive year that the field included at least four ACC teams.

The ACC's 2019 field hockey season officially gets underway Friday Aug. 30, with all seven league teams set to play non-conference matches.

2019 ACC Field Hockey Predicted Order of Finish
1. North Carolina (6) - 48
2. Duke (1) - 43
3. Virginia - 29
4. Louisville - 25
5. Syracuse - 18
6. Boston College - 17
7. Wake Forest – 16
(First-place votes)

2019 Preseason All-ACC Field Hockey Team
Fusine Govaert, Jr., M, Boston College
Margaux Paolino, Sr., M, Duke
Jillian Wolgemuth, Sr., B, Duke
Sammi Steele, Sr., G, Duke
Mercedes Pastor, Jr., M, Louisville
Yentl Leemans, Sr., M, North Carolina
Erin Matson, So., F, North Carolina
Claire Webb, Sr., B, Syracuse
Rachel Robinson, Jr., M, Virginia
Amber Ezechiels, So., B, Virginia
Anne van Hoof, Jr., B, Wake Forest

University of Louisville Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Carter Ayars

Alli Bitting

Mercedes Pastor

Bethany Russ

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