No. 2 Cardinals Travel to No. 20 Miami (Ohio)

The University of Louisville field hockey team will continue the 2021 spring season on Monday when the Cardinals travel to Oxford, Ohio to take on No. 20 Miami University.

LOUISVILLE NOTES
• The Cardinals are No. 2 in the first NFHCA Coaches' poll of the 2020-21 season, reaching the highest national ranking in program history.
• Louisville (10-3, 1-1 ACC Spring/5-1 ACC Fall) is coming off of a 2-1 victory over then-No. 14 Virginia on Saturday.
• In the opening weekend of the 2021 spring season, the Cards fell 2-0 at No. 1 North Carolina, but bounced back with a 5-0 win at Ball State.
• The Cardinals are led offensively by senior midfielder/forward Mercedes Pastor who has 10 goals and five assists for 25 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 career start last weekend.
• UofL finished the 2020 fall season atop of the ACC regular standings with a 5-1 mark in league play, marking a program high for single-season ACC victories.
• Two of Louisville's three losses have come at the hands of top-ranked North Carolina, but Louisville also has a win over the Tar Heels in the 2020-21 campaign.
• Louisville has outscored opponents 35-18 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.
• On October 2, 2020, Louisville beat North Carolina 3-1 at Trager Stadium, snapping the Tar Heels' NCAA-best 47-game win streak.

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: Miami leads 23-17
Last meeting: Oct. 14, 2018 - Louisville won 3-2 in overtime at Trager Stadium.
Scouting the RedHawks: Miami enters Monday's game with a 6-0 record and is coming off of a 3-1 win against Longwood.
• Freshman, Claudia Negrete Garcia leads Miami in goals with five.
• Isabelle Perese was named to the MAC All-Tournament Team in 2019 season.

RECAPPING LAST WEEKEND
Senior Mercedes Pastor's goal with two minutes remaining in the game lifted the Cardinals to a 2-1 win against Virginia Saturday afternoon.
The teams played through a scoreless first quarter before the Cardinals broke through with a penalty corner goal in the second quarter. Senior Alli Bitting got the play started and senior Megan Schneider provided the stop for Pastor who sent the ball in for Charlie van Oirschot to get a tip, giving Louisville a 1-0 lead into the second half.
• UVA responded in the fourth quarter off of a goal from Annie McDonough to even the score at 1-1 with just over five minutes left to play.
• The Cardinals were awarded a penalty stroke with under two minutes remaining. Pastor converted her attempt to give Louisville a 2-1 lead with her team-best tenth goal of the season.
• In the game, Virginia outshot Louisville 9-8, but the teams were an even 6-6 for shots on goal and Louisville had an 8-1 edge in penalty corners. Louisville goalkeeper Sam Minrath collected five saves while Lauren Hausheer registered six stops.

CARDS RANKED SECOND IN NFHCA COACHES POLL
Louisville field hockey is ranked No. 2 in the first Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches (NFHCA) Poll of the 2020-21 season. The ranking marks the highest in program history after the Cardinals reached No. 4 in the 2002 campaign.
• All seven ACC field hockey teams are ranked in the top 15. The Cardinals are among three ACC teams in the top 10 with North Carolina (12-1) leading the way at No. 1 and Syracuse standing at No. 8. The rest of the league's nationally-ranked squads are: No. 12 Duke, No. 13 Wake Forest, No. 14 Virginia and No. 15 Boston College.
• Louisville's 2021 spring schedule includes seven of its eight contests against teams in the top 20, including all ACC opponents as well as No. 20 Miami (Ohio).

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.

NEW ADDITIONS
This season, 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 have also earned starting nods

RETURNING PLAYER NOTES
• Alli Bitting (team co-captain); tied for the team lead with four assists. Last season earned 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.
• Erica Cooper was an NFHCA All-West Region selection after finishing her sophomore year with a pair of goals while playing in all 22 games with 16 starts and was instrumental in both offense and defense.
• Julie Kouijzer was one of seven players on the team who started every game last season - and the only freshman in that group of starters.
• Emilia Kaczmarczyk had a solid rookie season, playing in all 22 games with 16 starts while helping the defense to eight shutouts.
• Margot Lawn tied for second on the team with three goals... notched a pair of goals in the 3-1 win over North Carolina on Oct. 2... Led the freshman scorers with four goals last year.
• Sam Minrath entering her first season as the Cardinals' starting goalkeeping after serving a penalty stroke specialist in 2019.
• Mercedes Pastor (team co-captain); Two-time NFHCA All-America selection and 2020 All-ACC Preseason honoree. Pastor was a Field Hockey Honda Award finalist in 2019.
• India Reed redshirted in 2019, but has started every game for the Cardinals this season.
• Katie Schneider redshirted in 2019, has played in every game this season, stands second on the team with five goals.
• Meghan Schneider (team co-captain); Anchors the Cardinals' defense... Member of attack penalty corner unit... scored in the 2-1 win against Boston College (Oct. 4)... NFHCA All-West Region honoree has spent the last three seasons on the USWNT U21 team.

SMART CARDS
UofL led all schools with a program-record 25 student-athletes named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division I National Academic Squad.
• The Division I National Academic Squad program honors student-athletes who have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.3 or higher through the first semester of the 2020-2021 academic year.
• Seniors Biz Allgeier, Alli Bitting, Mercedes Pastor, Meghan Schneider and Madison Walsh earned the honor for the fourth time and are joined on the NFHCA National Academic Squad by the rest of the 2020 fall roster.

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 5-0 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. The Cards defeated No. 14 Virginia in the 2021 spring home opener.
• 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 seven teams ranked among the top 25 in current NFHCA rankings.
• Additionally, seven of Louisville's eight spring opponents earned a bid to the 2019 NCAA tournament including national champion North Carolina, and semifinalists Virginia and Boston College.

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Players Mentioned

Alli Bitting

Erica Cooper

Emilia Kaczmarczyk

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