Cardinals Set for a Pair of Games at Virginia

The University of Louisville field hockey team will return to action this weekend when the Cardinals travel to Charlottesville, Va., for a pair of games against host Virginia. Friday's game will count toward ACC standings while Saturday's contest is slated as a non-conference matchup.

THE WEEKEND AHEAD
Friday, Oct. 23 - Louisville at Virginia, 2 p.m. | ACC Network Extra Watch Link | Live Scoring
Saturday, Oct. 24 - Louisville at Virginia 2 p.m. | ACC Network Extra Watch Link | Live Scoring
Venue: Virginia's Turf Field
Series Record: Virginia leads 8-3
Last Meeting: October 11, 2019 - UVA won 2-1 at Trager Stadium.
Recap: The fifth-ranked Cardinals took an early 1-0 lead behind a goal from Mercedes Pastor, but a pair of fourth-quarter goals from Laura Janssen and Erin Shanahan lifted No. 9 Virginia to a 2-1 win. The loss snapped a four-game win streak for the Cardinals.
Louisville Game Notes vs. Virginia

ABOUT LOUISVILLE
• Louisville sits atop of the ACC standings with a 5-0 record and a 4-0 mark in ACC play into the weekend after defeating Wake Forest 2-1 on Oct. 10. The second game of that series was canceled due to heavy rain and unplayable field conditions.
• The best start in program history is 6-0, achieved in 2019 and 2016.
• Louisville is now 4-0 in conference play, matching the most ACC wins in program history. The Cards went 4-2 in the ACC regular season in 2017.
• The Cardinals are led offensively by senior midfielder Mercedes Pastor who has three goals and three assist for nine points.
• Louisville has outscored opponents 13-4 on the season with seven different players contributing to the scoring total.
• Senior goalkeeper Hollyn Barr carries an ACC-best 0.80 goals against average with a shutout and 10 saves through four games.
• Pastor was named to the Preseason All-ACC Field Hockey Team while the Cardinals were picked to finish fifth in the league according to a vote by the seven head coaches.

HEAD COACH JUSTINE SOWRY
• Justine Sowry is in her 10th season at the helm. During her time at Louisville, she has guided the Cardinals to 129 wins, five NCAA tournament appearances along with a conference title and a runner-up finish in the ACC Championship.

UP NEXT
The Cardinals will wrap up the regular season at Syracuse on Oct. 30.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA
The Cavaliers enter the weekend with a 3-3 overall record and a 2-1 mark in ACC play to stand in third place behind Louisville and North Carolina.
• With its Oct. 18 game against Boston College postponed due to COVID-19, Virginia was last in action on Oct. 12 when the Cavaliers fell 2-1 at North Carolina, prior to that, the Tar Heels picked up a 5-1 win in an ACC matchup.
• Laura Janssen has notched a team-best three goals, while Amber Ezechiels leads the Cavaliers with seven points (2G, 3A).
• Goalkeeper Taylor Henriksen (3-2) has started four games and carries a 1.45 goals against average with two shutouts on the season.

PASTOR, MEGHAN SCHNEIDER EARN ACC/NFHCA WEEKLY HONORS ON OCTOBER 6
The Cardinals swept the NFHCA and ACC Field Hockey weekly accolades as Mercedes Pastor was named Offensive Player of the Week and Meghan Schneider was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 6. This marks the second straight player of the week nod for Pastor and the first for Schneider.
• Pastor(Buenos Aires, Argentina) helped lead the Cardinals to a 2-0 record on the weekend, tallying four points with a goal and two assists. The senior registered the game-winning goal and dished out an assist in Friday's 3-1 victory over North Carolina which ended the defending NCAA champion's 47-game win streak. In Sunday's 2-1 win against Boston College, Pastor delivered an assist to give the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead against the 2019 semifinalists. On the weekend, she paced Louisville's offense with seven shots, five of which were on goal.
• Schneider (San Diego, Calif.) helped the Louisville defense to a 1.00 goals-against average on the weekend. She also tallied a goal and an assist as part of the Cardinals' attack penalty corner unit. Against North Carolina, the senior was effective was effective in marking 2019 NCAA leading scorer Erin Matson, holding her to one goal. Schneider also dished out a penalty corner assist for the eventual game-winning goal. In Sunday's win over Boston College, Schneider anchored a Louisville defense which held the Eagles to just two shots on goal. Additionally, she gave the Cards an early 1-0 lead with her first goal of the season.

UP LAST
Louisville is coming off of a 2-1 win at Wake Forest on October 11 - the second game of the two-game series was canceled due to rain and unplayable field conditions. Junior Erica Cooper gave the Cards an early lead with a goal in the first quarter. Wake Forest evened the score early in the third quarter. Sophomore Emilia Kaczmarczyk's put the Cards back on top for good with her fourth quarter goal. Senior Hollyn Barr collected four saves in the game as the Cardinals improved to 5-0 on the season and 4-0 in league play.

PASTOR TABBED ACC/NFHCA OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Mercedes Pastor was selected as the ACC and NFHCA Offensive Player of the Week following her performance in the Cardinals' opening weekend.
• Pastor helped the Cardinals to a 2-0 record with wins over visiting Duke. Pastor tallied a pair of goals to a 3-0 victory in the ACC opener and dished out an assist to give Louisville a 1-0 lead in Sunday's 3-1 win over the Blue Devils. For the weekend, Pastor led the team's attack with eight shots, five of which landed on goal.

SISTER ACT
Meghan and Katie Schneider have been college teammates since 2018 when Katie was a freshman and Meghan was a sophomore. After Katie's redshirt season in 2019, the Schneider sisters are back on the turf together with Katie on the forward line and Meghan as a defender and team co-captain.

BALANCED SCORING
The Cardinals have outscored opponents 13-4 through the first half of the season with seven players combining for the total. Senior Mercedes Pastor leads the way with three. Junior Erica Cooper has notched a pair of goals along with sophomores Emilia Kaczmarczyk and Margot Lawn and freshman Charlie van Oirschot. Senior Meghan Schneider and her sister, sophomore Katie Schneider each have one goal.

NEW ADDITIONS
The first five games of the season have featured five freshmen in the starting lineup.
• Redshirt freshman India Reed has stepped into a starting role in every game so far and has been joined by true freshmen Aimee Plumb, Charlie van Oirschot. Fellow rookies Paulina Mayer and Sofia Pendolino earned the starting nod in the 2-1 win against Boston College.

ACC STRONG
In the ACC's 38 years as an NCAA Division I Field Hockey conference, league teams have accounted for more than half the total appearances in the national title game (41 of 76).
• Last season marked the 20th time in the last 21 NCAA Field Hockey Championships – and the 28th time in the last 31 years – that the ACC placed at least one team in the title game.
• The ACC currently has a streak of 31 straight years with at least one team in the NCAA semifinals. Thirty-nine of the last 65 teams to reach the national semifinals have come from the ACC.

HOW THE CARDS STACK UP
Louisville (5-0, 4-0 ACC) currently stands atop the ACC standings, ahead of North Carolina (6-1, 3-1 ACC)
• Individually, goalkeeper Hollyn Barr leads the league with a 0.80 goals against average and stands third with a .778 save percentage.
• Senior forward/midfielder Mercedes Pastor ranks third with nine points and three goals while standing second with 21 shots and tied for second with two game-winning goals.

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 or developmental squads.
Hollyn Barr - USWNT National Development Squad (2019)
Alli Bitting - USWNT U21 Team (2019)
Erica Cooper- USWNT U21 Team (2019)
Mackenzie Karl - USWNT U17 Team (2015-16)
Margot Lawn - USWNT U19 Team (2019); U17 Team (2017-19)
Mercedes Pastor - Argentina U21 Team (2015-17); U18 Team (2013-14)
Sofia Pendolino - USWNT RISE Team
Aimee Plumb - England U19 Team (2018-19)
Katie Schneider - USWNT U19 Team (2019)
Meghan Schneider - USWNT U21 Team (2018-19); U19 Team (2017-18)
Minna Tremonti - USWNT U19 Team (2019)

HOMEGROWN TALENT
The UofL field hockey team features seven players who chose to play for their hometown school: senior Elizabeth (Biz) Allgeier (Assumption), juniors Erica Cooper (Assumption), Sam Minrath (Christian Academy) sophomores Camryn Pichea (Assumption) and Mattie Tabor (Sacred Heart). Redshirt freshman India Reed (duPont Manual) and freshman Embry Jane (EJ) Imorde (Sacred Heart).

HOME SWEET HOME
The Cardinals completed the 2020 fall season with a perfect 4-0 record in the friendly confines of Trager Stadium. Facing a daunting home slate in the Covid-19-altered season, Louisville defeated Duke twice in its opening weekend. The following weekend, UofL defeated two-time defending national champion North Carolina 3-1, halting the Tar Heels' 47-game win streak. Louisville wrapped up the home season with a 2-1 win against 2019 semifinalist Boston College.
• Last year, the Cardinals were 8-2 on the season at Trager Stadium, bringing their home record to 54-13 since the 2013 season.
•UofL owned a 5-3 record at Trager Stadium in 2018.
• 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.

PASTOR EARNS ACC PRESEASON HONORS
Mercedes Pastor was selected to the Preseason All-ACC Team and the Cardinals were picked to finished fifth in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship in a vote by the league's seven head coaches.
• This marks the second straight All-ACC Preseason selection for Pastor. The senior midfielder from Buenos Aires, Argentina is a two-time National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-America selection, earning first team honors in 2019 and garnering second team accolades in 2018.
2020 ACC Predicted Order of Finish
1. North Carolina (6) - 48
2. Virginia - 37
3. Boston College - 30
4. Duke - 26
5. Louisville -25
6. Syracuse (1) - 23
7. Wake Forest – 7

TOUGH SLATE
The Cardinals' nine-game slate features four home games with the final five contests played on the road– all against ACC opponents.
• Two-time defending national champion North Carolina will headline a challenging ACC slate that also features all six teams ranked among the top 25 in the 2019 final 2019 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) rankings. The Tar Heels finished last season atop the rankings while No. 4 Virginia, No. 7 Boston College and No. 8 Duke were in the top 10. Syracuse (No. 13) and Wake Forest (No. 21) round out Louisville's ACC opponents.
• Five of Louisville's opponents earned a bid to the 2019 NCAA tournament including national champion North Carolina, and semifinalists Virginia and Boston College.

LOOKING BACK AT A MONUMENTAL 2019 SEASON
• The 2019 Cardinals posted a 16-6 overall record, tying a program mark for wins and earned the overall No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, serving as a host site for the first time in program history. Louisville also made its first foray into the NCAA quarterfinals after defeating Michigan 2-1 in double-overtime in its first-round matchup.
• UofL finished the 2019 season at No. 5 in the NFHCA Coaches poll - the highest final ranking in program history. The Cards 10 weeks of the season among the top 10 in the nation reaching as high as No. 5. National rankings for the 2020 season will not be released in the fall.
• Louisville returns 15 letterwinners and nine starters from last year's historic team, including Pastor and fellow NFHCA All-American senior defender Alli Bitting. Also back from last season are NFHCA All-West Region selections: seniors Madison Walsh and Meghan Schneider and junior Erica Cooper. Additionally, the Cardinals welcome eight talented newcomers to this year's squad.

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Players Mentioned

Hollyn Barr

Alli Bitting

Erica Cooper

Emilia Kaczmarczyk

Mackenzie Karl

Margot Lawn

Paulina Mayer

Sam Minrath

Mercedes Pastor

Sofia Pendolino

Camryn Pichea

Aimee Plumb

India Reed

Katie Schneider

Meghan Schneider

Mattie Tabor

Minna Tremonti

Charlie van Oirschot

Madison Walsh

University of Louisville Athletics