No. 5 Louisville Hosts No. 9 Syracuse in ACC Showdown and Regular Season Finale

WEEKEND INFORMATION
No. 5 Louisville vs. No. 9 Syracuse
Date: October 29, 3:00 PM
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: Trager Stadium
Special Events: Senior Day, Mrs. Sherrill Brakmeier Locker Room Dedication
Admission: Free
Television: ACC Network
Announcers: Mike Corey, Leah Secondo
Game Links: Live Scoring | ACC Network
Louisville Game Notes
Parking: Fans attending games held at the University of Louisville may utilize the Floyd Street Parking Garage located across from the Don Fightmaster Playground for a $5 fee.

UofL C lear Bag Policy

The fifth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team will return to Trager Stadium for its regular season finale when the Cardinals play host to Syracuse on Oct. 29 at 3 p.m. The game will be televised on the ACC Network with Mike Corey handling play-by-play duties and Leah Secondo providing analysis.

NOTES
• With a 5-0 mark in ACC play, Louisville has clinched at least a share of the 2021 ACC regular season championship, marking the second straight regular season title for the Cardinals.
• Syracuse (9-3) is second in the ACC standings with a 4-1 record in conference play.
• A Louisville win would guarantee the outright regular season title and the top seed in the conference championship, while a Syracuse victory would result a tie for the regular season championship and a No. 1 seed for the Orange.
• Prior to the game, UofL will honor seniors Alli Bitting, Erica Cooper, Mackenzie Karl, Sam Minrath, Camryn Pichea and Katie Schneider.
• At 15-2 on the season, Louisville is one win away from tying a program record for victories. The record was set with a 16-5 mark in 2001 and matched in 2019 when the Cards finished the season at 16-6.
• Friday's contest will mark the 12th ranked opponents for the Cardinals. UofL is 9-2 against top-25 teams with its only losses coming at the hands of then-No. 2 (currently No. 1) Iowa on Sept. 19 and No. 2 Michigan on Oct. 10.
• The Cardinals are coming off of a pair of top-25 wins last weekend. On Friday, Louisville beat No. 10 North Carolina 3-2 in overtime to secure a share of the ACC regular season title. UofL followed with another overtime decision on Sunday, a 1-0 win at No. 25 James Madison.
• Aimee Plumb was tabbed the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division I Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 27, marking her first national weekly honor. On Oct. 26, she took home her second straight ACC Offensive Player of the Week award.
• Plumb has registered at least one goal or an assist in the last four games.
• Katie Schneider leads the team with a career-best nine goals and 21 points on the season. She is also second in the ACC in goals and stands third in points.
• Louisville has outscored opponents 44-15 with 11 different players contributing goals.
• UofL is 7-1 in games at Trager Stadium this season with its only loss coming on Sept. 19 against No. 2 Iowa - which snapped a 12-game home win streak.
• The Cardinals started the season with a 7-0 record for the second straight year, matching a school record start before falling 2-0 to the Hawkeyes.
• The Iowa loss also marked the first time the Cardinals were shut out since March 27, 2021 when Louisville fell 1-0 at then-No. 16 Boston College.
• The Cardinals are 6-0 in overtime games this season – including a 2-0 mark in double OT contests.
• Mattie Tabor has six goals on the season, five of her scores have been game-winners - she leads the ACC in that category.
• Freshman Mila de Kuijer carries a 0.84 goals against average, leading the ACC and standing in third in the nation in that category.
• de Kuijer also leads the league with seven shutouts and ranks seventh on Louisville's all-time single season list for shutouts.
• Alli Bitting and Charlie van Oirschot were named to the Preseason All-ACC Field Hockey Team.
• Head coach Justine Sowry achieved her 200th career victory on Sept. 10 when the Cardinals defeated Indiana 1-0 at Trager Stadium.

HEAD COACH JUSTINE SOWRY
Justine Sowry is in her 11th season at the helm. During her time at Louisville, she has guided the Cardinals to 152 wins, six NCAA tournament appearances reaching the quarterfinals twice and advancing to the semifinals for the first time in program history in the 2020-21 season. Under Sowry's tutelage, Louisville has tallied a pair of conference titles, including the 2020 ACC Fall Regular Season crown, and a pair of runner-up finishes in the ACC Championships.
• With UofL's 1-0 win against Indiana on Sept. 10, Justine Sowry reached 200 career victories in her 15th season as a head coach.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Syracuse
Series Record: SU leads 12-8
Last Meeting: April 4, 2021 - Louisville won 1-0 in overtime at Trager Stadium. The teams also met Oct. 20, 2020 in the fall portion of the 2020-21 season. In that game, the Orange prevailed 2-1, to give the Cardinals their only conference loss in the fall regular season.
Scouting the Orange: Syracuse enters Friday's contest with an 11-3 overall record and a 4-1 mark in ACC play and standing second behind Louisville.
• Syracuse is coming off of a 2-1 loss at the hands of No. 16 Virginia which snapped a nine-game winning streak.
• The Orange are led offensively by Pleun Lammers' eight goals. Quirine Comans has tallied seven goals and dished out a team-high eight assists for 22 points.
• Brooke Borzymowski (8-3) carries a 0.89 goals against average with four shutouts and a .756 save percentage.

UP NEXT
Following Friday's season finale, the Cardinals will prepare for the ACC Field Hockey Championship which will be held Nov. 4-7 at Syracuse's J.S. Coyne Stadium.

CELEBRATING MRS. 'B'
Upon the conclusion of Friday's matchup, the Louisville field hockey program will honor the memory of longtime coach and Cardinal Forever Mrs. Sherrill Brakmeier with a new dedication of the locker room. The Matriarch of Louisville Field Hockey passed away in March 2020.
• Mrs. 'B' was a member of the Cardinal Athletics family since 1940, when she played all four sports offered tor women: field hockey, basketball softball and volleyball. Upon graduation, she joined the staff as a teacher and a coach and served as Louisville's field hockey coach for 30 years before retiring after 37 years of service.

PLUMB NAMED NFHCA DIVISION I OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK ALONG WITH SECOND STRAIGHT ACC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOD
Aimee Plumb was named the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 27. This marks Plumbs first national weekly honor. The ward comes on the heels of Plumb's second staight ACC Field Hockey Offensive Player of the Week nod on October 26.
• Plumb led the Cardinals to a pair of wins over the weekend with three goals – two of them game-winning scores in overtime. On Friday, Plumb notched a pair of goals as the Cardinals overcame an early deficit and went on to beat No. 10 North Carolina behind her goal with 10 seconds left in overtime. With the win, Louisville secured a share of the ACC regular season title for the second straight year.
• On Sunday, Plumb registered the only goal of the game, breaking a scoreless tie with a penalty corner goal in the fourth minute of overtime.
• Plumb is finishing the regular season on a strong note, having totaled six goals and one assist in the last four games with two of her scores serving as game-winners.
• The Canterbury, Kent, England native stands second on the team with a career-high seven goals, three assists and 17 points on the season.

CARDS FIFTH IN NFHCA COACHES POLL
UofL stands at No. 5 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Coaches poll released on Oct. 26. The Cardinals slip one spot after last week's overtime wins at then-No. 10 North Carolina and No. 25 James Madison
• Louisville has spent 15 of the last 16 weeks ranked among the top five in the nation. Last season, the Cardinals spent all seven weeks in the top five after debuting at No. 2 – the highest ranking in program history – on March 16, 2021. After two weeks in that slot, UofL remained in the top five throughout the rest of the season, finishing the year at No. 5. The Cardinals also concluded the 2019 campaign at No. 5.
• The Cards have been ranked among the top 10 for the last 28 weeks spanning back to the 2019 season when they appeared at No. 8 on Sept. 10.
• Louisville has now spent 93 consecutive weeks in the top 20 in the nation dating back to the 2013 season.

ACC STRONG
• All seven ACC teams appear in the top 25 with Louisville leading the way at No. 4. In addition to the Cardinals, the ACC holds three of the top 10 spots with Syracuse stepping in at No. 9 and North Carolina at No. 10. Rounding out the other ACC schools are No. 13 Boston College, No. 14 Virginia, No. 19 Wake Forest and No. 25 Duke.

UP LAST
#4 Louisville 1 - #25 James Madison 0/OT
The fourth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team defeated No. 25 James Madison 1-0 behind sophomore Aimee Plumb's overtime penalty corner goal Sunday afternoon at JMU Field Hockey Complex.
• Plumb's seventh goal of the season marked her second straight overtime gamewinner as the Cardinals improved to 15-2 on the season and extend their win streak to four games. Freshman Mila de Kuijer collected five saves en route to her ACC-leading seventh shutout of the season.

#4 Louisville 3 - #10 North Carolina 2/OT
Aimee Plumb's goal with 10 seconds remaining in overtime lifted the fourth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team to a 3-2 win over No. 10 North Carolina Friday evening at Karen Shelton Stadium. With the win, the Cardinals improve to 14-2 on the season and 5-0 in ACC play, earning at least a share of the regular season title.
• In a game that featured two lead changes and two ties, the Tar Heels outshot the Cardinals 11-9 while Louisville held a 7-4 edge in shots on goals. UNC had five penalty corners – including two in overtime, and the Cardinals earned four in the contest. Plumb delivered two goals including the game-winner and Mattie Tabor scored to put Louisville ahead temporarily in the fourth quarter. Freshman goalkeeper Mila de Kuijer posted two saves in the contest.

SENIOR SALUTE
Prior Friday's game against Syracuse, the Cardinals will honor seniors: Alli Bitting, Erica Cooper, Mackenzie Karl, Sam Minrath, Camryn Pichea and Katie Schneider. As a group, the class helped the program reach numerous milestones while competing in arguably the toughest conference in the NCAA, in doing so, they have helped their team to three NCAA tournament appearances. The last two seasons, they played an integral role in earning back-to-back national seeds in the NCAA tournament.
• Last year, they helped the Cardinals to the program's first-ever Final Four appearance which came on the heels of a monumental 2019 campaign in which they helped Louisville reach the quarterfinals for the first time in program history while producing a 16-6 overall record, tying a program mark for wins.
• With last week's overtime win at North Carolina, they helped the Louisville earned a share of the ACC regular season championship for the second straight year.
• Their teams have been a mainstay in the national top 20 rankings throughout their careers, while spending 17 weeks among the top 10, finishing last year with the program's highest final ranking at No. 5 and then appearing at No. 2 this spring of 2021.
• The senior class has also excelled academically, earning the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association Academic team award in each of their seasons here.

BALANCED OFFENSE
The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 44-15 this season.
• Eleven different players have contributed to the Cardinals' goal tally with Katie Schneider's nine goals leading the way. Julie Kouijzer, Mattie Tabor and Erica Cooper follow with five goals apiece.

STINGY DEFENSE
Louisville has posted seven shutouts in 17 games, standing second in the ACC and eighth in the nation with 0.40 shutouts per game.
• The Cardinals have produced a 0.84 goals against average which leads the conference and ranks third in the national standings.
• Mila de Kuijer is in the midst of an impressive rookie campaign which started with back-to-back shutouts in the first two games of the season. She leads the ACC ranks third in the nation with a 0.84 goals against average.
• Additionally, she leads the ACC and is sixth nationally with an .807 save percentage.

TABOR FINDING HER GROOVE
After her sophomore campaign was cut short in the second game of the season due to injury, Mattie Tabor is back in the Cardinals' lineup and is tied for second on the team with six goals. Five of her goals have been game-winners to lead the conference in that category.
Tabor's game winning goals:
Aug. 27 vs. Ohio (6-0
Sept. 5 at Princeton (3-2/OT)
Sept. 12 vs. Liberty (3-1)
Sept. 17 vs. Virginia (1-0)
Oct. 1 vs. Wake Forest (2OT)

SCHNEIDER SHINES IN 2021
Katie Schneider in the midst of a career-best season. The forward from San Diego leads the team with 21 points (9G, 3A). She tallied three assists in the 6-0 win against Ohio, tying a school record.
• Schneider recently tallied a pair of goals in the 4-1 win against Miami (Ohio) to establish a new career single-season high, surpassing her previous mark of six in the 2020-21 campaign. She now has eight on the season.
• She stands tied for second in the ACC in goals and third in points.

RETURNING PLAYER NOTES
• Alli Bitting (team co-captain); Earned ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors on Aug. 31… Returning for fifth season... 2021 Preseason All-ACC selection... Two-time NFHCA All-American and All-ACC selection... Last year led the team with a career-high eight assists and scored the game-winner in the Cardinals' 1-0 NCAA quarterfinal victory against UConn... Earned 2020-21 NFHCA All-West Region and All-ACC honors, helping the Cardinals' defense to eight shutouts on the season and registering one goal and four assists... Named to NCAA All-Tournament Team.
• Erica Cooper - Scored the game-winner in OT at No. 12 Boston College... Tallied two goals in the Cardinals' season opener... Stands tied for second on the team with five goals... 2019 NFHCA All-West Region selection and is a two-year starter.
• Emilia Kaczmarczyk - Two-year starter... finished fifth on the team with 11 points (4G, 3A) in 2020-21.
• Mackenzie Karl- Scored her first career goal in the 3-1 win against No. 11 Liberty (Sept. 12)... Added another goal in the 4-1 win against Miami (Ohio) on Oct. 4.
• Julie Kouijzer- In the midst of a career-best season with five goals, leads team with seven asissts... Stands second on the team with 16 points... Two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Week this season (Sept. 7, Sept. 28)... Scored the game-winning goals at No. 18 Duke and in overtime at No. 19 Ohio State... Tied for second on the team with 12 points (4G, 4A)... 2020-21 NFHCA All-West Region second team honoree... Two-time ACC Tournament selection (2019, 2020)... Three-year starter
• Aimee Plumb - Two-time ACC Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 19, Oct. 26)... Registered the game-winning goal in the 1-0 victory at No. 25 James Madison... Scored two goals - including the gamewinner in overtime in the Cardinals' 3-2 win at No. 10 North Carolina... NFHCA All-West Region second team selection... Named to NCAA All-Tournament Team.
• India Reed – Has started every game in the backfield... Played in every game in the backfield in 2020-21. redshirted in 2019...
• Katie Schneider – In the midst of a career-best year... Leads team with nine goals and 21 points… Tied a school record with three assists in the season-opening win against Ohio… Stood second on the team with six goals in the 2020-21 season.
• Mattie Tabor – Five of her six goals have been game-winners... Dished out an assist in the 1-0 win against Indiana... Scored the game-winner in the 3-1 victory over No. 11 Liberty.
• Charlie van Oirschot - 2021 Preseason All-ACC selection... NFHCA All-West Region and All-ACC second team selection... Stood fourth on the team with four goals, including one in the ACC Semifinal win against Virginia.

NEWCOMER NOTES
Freshman Filippa Niebuhr has appeared in all of Louisville's games and has recorded three goals on the season - including the game-winner against Indiana.
• Fellow rookie Mila de Kuijer has played every minute in the cage this season and posted a career-high eight saves in the 2-1 double overtime win against No. 15 Wake Forest.
• She leads the ACC in shutouts, save percentage and goals against average.

TOUGH SLATE
Twelve of the Cardinals' 18 opponents are ranked among the top 25 in the most recent NFHCA released on Oct. 5. In addition to its six ACC opponents, UofL will also take on, No. 1 Iowa, No. 2 Michigan, No. 8 Liberty, No. 15 Princeton, No. 23 James Madison and No. 24 Ohio State.
• Louisville is 9-2 against ranked opponents this season with its only losses coming at the hands of No. 1 Iowa and No. 2 Michigan.

HOW THE CARDS STACK UP
• As a team, Louisville leads the ACC and stands third in the NCAA with an 0.84 goals against average.
• Louisville leads the ACC and stands third in the NCAA with an 0.867 winning percentage.
• UofL stands second in the ACC and eighth nationally with 0.40 shutouts per game.
• The Cardinals' scoring margin of 1.62 is third in the conference and ranks ninth nationally.
• Individually, freshman Mila de Kuijer leads the ACC and stands sixth nationally with an .805 save percentage.
• Katie Schneider is second in the ACC in goals (9) and stands third in the conference in points (21).
• Julie Kouijzer has delivered a career-high seven assists which place her tied for third in ACC standings.
• Mattie Tabor leads the ACC with five game-winning goals.

University of Louisville Athletics

No. 5 Louisville Hosts No. 9 Syracuse in ACC Showdown and Regular Season Finale

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Players Mentioned

Alli Bitting

Erica Cooper

Mila de Kuijer

Emilia Kaczmarczyk

Mackenzie Karl

Julie Kouijzer

Sam Minrath

Filippa Niebuhr

Camryn Pichea

Aimee Plumb

India Reed

Katie Schneider

Mattie Tabor

Charlie van Oirschot

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