Field Hockey Plays Host to Virginia Saturday at 12 p.m.

The University of Louisville field hockey team will continue spring play this weekend when the Cardinals play host to Virginia Saturday at 12 p.m. at Trager Stadium.

THE WEEKEND AHEAD
March 13 - Virginia at Louisville, 12 p.m.
ACCN Watch Lin k | Live scoring
Venue: Trager Stadium
Series Record: Virginia leads 8-6 | Louisville Game Notes (PDF)

FIELD HOCKEY ATTENDANCE POLICY
Attendance will be at approximately 20 percent capacity at Trager Stadium, but all home contests will be televised and/or streamed for those that can't attend. Tickets will only be available to guests of Louisville student-athletes, coaches and visiting team, along with a limited number for UofL students (with student ID) and the general public.

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS
Stadium gates will open one hour prior to start time. Temperature checks will be conducted with appropriate space allowed to promote physical distancing. Anyone that has a reading of 100.4° or higher will be directed to a cool down area. After a 10-minute cool down period a second temperature check will be conducted. If the temperature displayed is 100.4° or higher the person will be refused entry.

A Clear Bag Policy remains in place UofL athletics facilities. Fans may bring one clear bag, either a one-gallon clear Ziploc-style storage bag, or a 12 x 6 x 12 inches clear tote bag. Fans will be asked to return non-approved bags or other items to their vehicle prior to stadium entry. Patrons are encouraged to have all items loose inside the clear bag for more efficient safe inspections. Clutch purses, billfolds or wallets cannot be placed in the clear bag.

All concession stands will be cashless for the 2020 season. All major credit cards will be accepted. Mobile pay options (Apple pay, Google Pay, etc.) will not be accepted.

CARDINAL NOTES
• The Cardinals bring a 9-3 (0-1 ACC) record into the weekend after opening the spring season with a 2-0 loss at No. 1 North Carolina and rebounding with a 5-0 win at Ball State last week.
• The Cardinals are led offensively by senior midfielder/forward Mercedes Pastor who has nine goals and four assists for 22 points.
• Redshirt sophomore Katie Schneider stands second with five goals and one assist for 11 points.
• Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Sam Minrath carries a 1.52 goals-against average with six saves after making her first two career starts last weekend.
• Louisville has outscored opponents 33-17 on the 2020-21 season.
• 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.
• Seniors Biz Allgeier, Hollyn Barr and Madison Walsh have opted out of the spring season.

FALL 2020
• After earning the No. 1 seed in the 2020 ACC Fall Championship for the first time in program history, but fell 4-2 to the Tar Heels in the finals.
• Julie Kouijzer, Aimee Plumb and Mercedes Pastor were named to the ACC All-Tournament team.
• Louisville finished the season atop of the ACC standings with a 5-1 mark in ACC play, marking a program high for single-season ACC victories.
• The 2-1 victory at Virginia on October 24 gave Louisville the best start in program history (7-0), surpassing the previous mark (6-0) achieved in 2016 and 2019.

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 133 wins, five NCAA tournament appearances along with two conference titles and a pair of runner-up finish in the ACC Championships.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Series Record: Virginia leads 8-6
Last meeting (2020):The teams met three times in fall with Louisville winning back-to-back weekend games 5-2 and 2-1 on October 23 & 24 in Virginia. When they met again in the ACC championship semi-finals in, Louisville advanced to the finals winning 5-2.
Scouting the Cavaliers: Virginia (4-8) enters Saturday's game with a 2-0 loss to Duke in the spring season opener. In the fall, UVA compiled a 4-7 record in the fall and went 2-3 in ACC play.
• Laura Janssen finished the fall ranked second in the ACC in goals scored with seven and was named to the ACC All-Tournament Team.
• Taylor Henriksen finished the fall ranked second in the ACC in save percentage (.767) and saves per game (4.71) while also ranked fourth in goals against average (1.765).

RECAPPING LAST WEEKEND
The Cardinals resumed play in the 2020-21 spring season right where they left off in the fall, in Chapel Hill, N.C. against two-time defending national champion and 2020 ACC fall champion North Carolina.
• In a rematch of the fall title game, UNC again prevailed - this time by a score of 2-0. In the game, Louisville outshot the Tar Heels 16-14 with a 9-5 advantage in shots on goal and 10-5 in penalty corners.
• In her first career start, goalkeeper Sam Minrath collected three saves.
• Louisville continued the early season road swing with a Sunday trip to Muncie, Ind.
• UofL reignited its offense behind Mercedes Pastor's first career hat trick along with goals from Aimee Plumb and Katie Schneider.
• Minrath collected a career-high five saves in the shutout.

2020-21 NEWCOMERS TO WATCH
• Paulina Mayer, Back: The youngest - and tallest player of the team just turned 17 on Sept. 17. The Baden-Württemberg, Germany native was a member of the German Under-16 national team and played for Mannheimer Hockey Club.
• Sofia Pendolino, Midfielder: Played in five games with a start against Boston College... The USA Field Hockey Under-17 Team member earned NFHCA All-America first team honors in 2019 and was a second team selection in 2018.
• Aimee Plumb, Midfielder/Forward: Started all but one game and has tallied four goals, including one in the 5-2 ACC Semifinal win against Virginia. She scored her first career goal in the 5-2 win at Virginia to help the Cardinals seal a share of the ACC regular season title... The midfielder/forward from Canterbury, England was a member of England's Under-18 national team for the past two years and, prior to that, was a member of the U16 squad for two years.
Charlie van Oirschot, Midfielder - Tied for fourth on the team with three goals, including one in the ACC Semifinal win against Virginia... Registered the game-winning goal against Boston College (Oct. 4)... Hails from Haarlem, The Netherlands, where she was a member of the Dutch U16 team and played for Hockey Club Bloemendaal.

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.

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
• Individually, Mercedes Pastor stands second in the conference with nine goals/0.75 goals per game and 22 points/1.83 points per game.
• Alli Bitting is tied for the conference lead with seven assists/0.58 assists per game.
• As a team, Louisville stands second in the league with 33 goals and a 1.42 goals against average.

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.
Alli Bitting - USWNT U21 Team (2019)
Erica Cooper- USWNT U21 Team (2019)
Mackenzie Karl - USWNT U17 Team (2015-16)
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 six players who chose to play for their hometown school: 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
In the spring, the Cardinals' eight-game slate features three home games. Two-time defending national champion North Carolina will headline a challenging ACC slate that also features six teams ranked among the top 25 in the 2019 final 2019 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) rankings. The Tar Heels finished the 2019 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.
• Louisville will also face non-conference opponents Ball State and three-time defending Mid-American Conference champion Miami (Ohio).
• Seven 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 Plays Host to Virginia Saturday at 12 p.m.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alli Bitting

Erica Cooper

Mackenzie Karl

Julie Kouijzer

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