Field Hockey Travels to Syracuse for Regular Season Finale

The University of Louisville field hockey team will conclude the regular season when the Cardinals travel to Syracuse for an ACC matchup Friday at 2 p.m.

LOUISVILLE VS. SYRACUSE GAME DAY INFORMATION
October 30 - Louisville at Syracuse, 2 p.m.
Venue: J.S. Coyne Field
Coverage: ACC Network Extra Watch Link | Live Scoring Link
Series Record: Syracuse leads 11-7
Last Meeting: November 7, 2019 - Louisville on 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship.
Recap: Mercedes Pastor's goal in the first quarter stood as the game-winner as the sixth-ranked University of Louisville defeated No. 12 Syracuse 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship at the Boston College Field Hockey Complex.
NOTES: Louisville vs. Syracuse Game Notes

ABOUT LOUISVILLE
• Louisville sits atop of the ACC standings with a 7-0 record and a 5-0 mark in ACC play following last weekend's two-game sweep at Virginia.
• Seniors Alli Bitting and Mercedes Pastor are the current ACC and NFHCA Players of the Week with Bitting earning defensive honors and Pastor tabbed as the offensive player of the week. This marks the second time Louisville has swept the weekly honors with Pastor picking up her third and Bitting taking home her first of the season.
• Friday's 5-2 win over the Cavaliers clinched at least a share of the ACC regular season title.
• Saturday's 2-1 victory gave Louisville the best start in program history (7-0), surpassing the previous mark (6-0) achieved in 2016 and 2019.
• Louisville is now 5-0 in conference play, marking most single season 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 six goals and four assists for 16 points.
• Louisville has outscored opponents 20-7 on the season with nine different players contributing to the scoring total.
• Senior goalkeeper Hollyn Barr carries an ACC-best 1.00 goals against average with a shutout and 22 saves through seven 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 131 wins, five NCAA tournament appearances along with a conference title and a runner-up finish in the ACC Championship.

UP NEXT
The Cardinals prepare for the ACC Field Hockey Championship which will take place November 5, 6 and 8 in Durham, N.C.

CARDS SWEEP WEEKLY HONORS FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS SEASON
Mercedes Pastor was named the NFHCA and ACC Offensive Player of the Week while Alli Bitting was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Week for the period ending October 25. This marks the second team this season the Cardinals have swept the ACC's weekly honors with Pastor picking up her third player of the week nod and Bitting garnering her first of the season.
• Pastor scored three goals and dished out an assists for seven points to lead the team offensively with at least one goal and one assist per game. She delivered two goals – including the gamewinner - and dished out an assist in Friday's 5-2 victory which sealed a share of the regular season championship. On Saturday, she broke open a scoreless game with a penalty corner goal in the third quarter to put the Cardinals on the scoreboard. After the Cavaliers evened the score in the fourth quarter, the team co-captain helped set up the game-winning goal with 10 seconds remaining on the clock.
•On the weekend, she paced the Cardinals' offense with 13 shots, nine of which were on goal. She currently leads the team with six goals, four assists and 16 points.
•Bitting helped direct the Louisville defense to a pair of wins at Virginia on the weekend as Louisville improved its record to 7-0 on the season and 5-0 in ACC play, clinching at least a share of the regular season conference title.
• The team co-captain dished out one assist as a member of Louisville's attack penalty corner unit in Saturday's 2-1 win and helped limit the Cavaliers to two shots on goal in that game.

LAST TIME OUT
Louisville is coming off of a two-game sweep at Virginia last weekend. The Cardinals improved their overall record to 7-0, securing the best start in program history, and clinched at least a share of the ACC regular season title.
Louisville 5 - Virginia 2
Mercedes Pastor scored two goals and delivered an assist while Hollyn Barr collected a season-high seven saves to help lead the University of Louisville field hockey team to a 5-2 win over host Virginia Friday afternoon at Turf Field. With the win, the Cardinals earned at least a share of the ACC regular season title.
• The teams fired off 13 shots each with Virginia owning a 9-7 edge in shots on goal and UofL holding a 9-4 advantage in penalty corners. In addition to Pastor's offensive output, Aimee Plumb registered her first career goal. Madison Walsh and Margot Lawn also scored as the Cardinals tallied a season-high in goals and the most since August 30, 2019 in a 5-0 win over Indiana.
Louisville 2 - Virginia 1
Senior Madison Walsh's goal with 10 seconds remaining in the game lifted the University of Louisville field hockey team to a 2-1 win at Virginia Saturday afternoon.

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 20-7 this season with nine players combining for the total. Senior Mercedes Pastor leads the way with six. Sophomore Margot Lawn follows with three goals while senior Madison Walsh, junior Erica Cooper, sophomore Emilia Kaczmarczyk and freshman Charlie van Oirschot have tallied two goals. Senior Meghan Schneider and her sister, sophomore Katie Schneider each have one goal along with freshman Aimee Plumb.

NEW ADDITIONS
Through seven games. Louisville has included 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 (7-0, 5-0 ACC) currently stands atop the ACC standings, ahead of North Carolina (6-1, 3-1 ACC)
• Individually, goalkeeper Hollyn Barr leads the the league with a 1.00 goals against average and is third with a .759 save percentage.
• Senior forward/midfielder Mercedes Pastor is tied for first with North Carolina's Erin Matson with six goals and stands second with 16 points, and three game-winning goals. She is also in a four-way tie for second along with fellow senior Alli Bitting with four assists.

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.

Field Hockey Travels to Syracuse for Regular Season Finale

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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