Cardinals Set to Face North Carolina in Finals of ACC Championship

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The top-seeded University of Louisville field hockey team will take on the No. 2 seed North Carolina in the finals of the 2020 ACC Field Hockey Championship Sunday at 12 p.m. at North Carolina's Karen Shelton Stadium.

2020 ACC Field Hockey Championship
November 8, 2020
Location: Chapel Hill, N.C.
Venue: Karen Shelton Stadium
Coverage: ACC Network | Live scoring | ACC Championship Central
Play-by-play: Eric Frede; Analyst: Leah Secondo

Louisville vs. North Carolina
Overall Series History: North Carolina leads 9-5
Series in ACC Championship: The teams have met four times with the Tar Heels winning all four, most recently beating Louisville 3-1 in the 2019 semifinals.
2020 Regular Season Meeting: October 2 - Louisville won 3-1 at Trager Stadium, snapping UNC's 47-game win streak.
Shots: UL 12 - UNC 7 | Shots on goal: UL 10 - UNC 4
Corners: UL 4 - UNC 3
Saves: Barr (UL) 3 - Hendry (UNC) 7; Team (UNC) 1
Goals: Pastor (UL), Lawn (UL), Matson UNC), Lawn (UL)

About Louisville
• The Cardinals are led offensively by senior midfielder Mercedes Pastor who has six goals and four assists for 16 points.
• Louisville has outscored opponents 26-11 on the season with nine different players contributing to the scoring total and eight of those with multiple goals.
• Senior goalkeeper Hollyn Barr carries an ACC-best 1.11 goals against average with a shutout and 28 saves through nine games.
• This marks Louisville's second appearance in the ACC title game. In 2017 the Cardinals lost 1-0 to North Carolina in the finals on November 5 at Louisville's Trager Stadium.

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 132 wins, five NCAA tournament appearances along with a conference title and a runner-up finish in the 2017 ACC Championship.

Setting the Stage:
The Cardinals (8-1, 5-1 ACC) earned the No. 1 seed in the ACC Championship for the first time since joining the league in 2014 after posting a 5-1 mark in conference play marking the most season ACC wins in program history. The Cards went 4-2 in the ACC regular season in 2017.

Louisville defeated Virginia 5-2 in Friday's semifinal matchup, with five different Cardinals contributing to the goal tally. In the game, Louisville outshot Virginia 13-6 with a 9-5 advantage in shots on goal and a 6-1 edge in penalty corners. The teams played to a 1-1 tied at halftime, but the Cardinals tallied four second-half goals en route to the 5-2 win. Senior Hollyn Barr collected three saves while Virginia's Lauren Hausheer and Taylor Henriksen combined for four stops.

Second-seeded North Carolina (9-1, 3-1) will be bidding for it 23rd ACC Championship title after outlasting Syracuse, 4-3 in overtime in the semifinals of the ACC Field Hockey Championship on Friday. The Tar Heels cruised to a 4-0 win over the No. 7 seed Boston College in a quarterfinal matchup on Thursday.

Friday's win over Syracuse gave UNC head coach Karen Shelton her 701st career victory and lifting her past UConn's Nancy Stevens to the top spot on the NCAA's all-time coaching list.

Cardinals Set to Face North Carolina in Finals of ACC Championship

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Players Mentioned

Hollyn Barr

Mercedes Pastor

University of Louisville Athletics