No. 3 Louisville Set for NCAA Field Hockey Championship

The third-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team has earned the overall No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in the NCAA Championship. The Cardinals will travel to University Park, Pa. to face the winner of Rider and UConn on Sunday, May 2 at 3 p.m. at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex.

NCAA First and Second Rounds
College Park, Pa. | Penn State Field Hockey Complex
Friday, April 30
Game 1: VCU vs. Bucknell, 12 p.m.
Game 2: UConn vs. Rider, 3 p.m.
Sunday, May 2
Game 3: Michigan vs. Winner Game 1
Game 4: Louisville vs. Winner Game 2

Live scoring and live stats are available here
All times Eastern

SETTING THE STAGE
The third-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team has earned the overall No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in the NCAA Championship. The Cardinals will travel to University Park, Pa. to face the winner of Rider and No. 6 UConn on Sunday, May 2 at 3 p.m. at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex.
• Sunday's quarterfinal winner will advance to the NCAA semifinals which will take place May 7-9 at the University of North Carolina.
• The Cardinals are ranked No. 3 in the latest NFHCA Coaches' poll of the 2020-21 season. Louisville reached the highest national ranking in program history at No. 2 in the initial 2021 rankings and spent two weeks in that slot.
• Louisville brings a 13-5 overall record into the tournament after finishing the spring ACC season with a 3-3 mark in ACC play and registering a fall conference record of 5-1.

LOUISVILLE AGAINST THE FIELD
After earning a first round bye, the Cardinals will take on the winner of Friday's 3 p.m. first-round game between Rider and UConn.

Rider
Series Record: Teams have not met
Scouting the Broncs: Rider brings a 6-1 record in the the tournament and earned the Northeast Conference's automatic bid to NCAA's with a 5-0 win over LIU in the NEC Championship Game. NEC Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year in 2020-21, Julia Divorra leads Rider with eight goals, five assists and 21 points on the season. Kaitlyn Tomas (5-1) carries a 0.15 goals against average with a 909 save percentage.

UConn
Series Record: UConn leads 16-2
Last Meeting: Nov. 14, 2015 - UConn won 3-0 in the first round of the NCAA Championship. The bulk of the series took place when both teams were members of the BIG EAST Conference (2005-13).
Scouting the Huskies: No. 6 UConn enters the tournament with an 11-1 record and on a seven-game winning streak, with its only loss coming at the hands of Liberty. Connecticut earned the BIG EAST Conference automatic bid after winning its ninth-straight league tournament title. The five-time NCAA Champion Huskies have won National Titles in 1981, 1985, 2013, 2014 and 2017.
• Sophie Hamilton leads the team with 17 goals and 14 assists for 48 points.
Cheyenne Sprecher carries a 0.50 goals against average with 10 shutouts on the season.

LOUISVILLE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
2019 – Overall No. 4 Seed -Hosted 1st/2nd rounds at Trager Stadium
#5 Louisville 2 - #11 Michigan 1/OT
#7 Boston College 2 - #5 Louisville 1/Shootout
2017 - First round (at Michigan)
               #10 Northwestern 3 - #8 Louisville 2/OT
2016 - First round (at Duke)
               #8 Delaware 1 - #9 Louisville 0
2015 - First round (at Connecticut)
               #3 Connecticut 3 - #9 Louisville 0
2014 - First round (at Connecticut)
               #4 Stanford 2 - #10 Louisville 1/OT
2008 - First round (at Michigan State)
               # 6 Iowa 1 - Louisville 0
2004 - Play-in game (at Pacific)
               Pacific 1 - Louisville 0/OT
2003 - First round (at Michigan State)
               Michigan State 2 - Louisville 0

CARD NOTES
• Louisville placed three players on the All-ACC teams with Mercedes Pastor earning first team honors and Alli Bitting and Charlie van Oirschot named to the second team.
• The Cardinals are led by Pastor who has a career-high 13 goals and five assists for 31 points. She stands second in the ACC in both goals and points.
• Freshman Aimee Plumb stands second on the team with six goals and three assists for 13 points.
• Senior Alli Bitting leads the team and is tied for the conference lead with a career-high eight assists.
• Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Sam Minrath carries an ACC-best 1.14 goals-against average with 22 saves after making her first career start this spring.
• Two of Louisville's five 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.
• 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 135 wins, six NCAA tournament appearances along with two conference titles and a pair of runner-up finish in the ACC Championships.

UP LAST
• After three goals during the fourth quarter, No. 4 University of Louisville field hockey concluded the regular season with a 4-1 victory over No. 9 Wake Forest in the regular season finale at Trager Stadium.
• Maggie Dickman put the Demon Deacons on the board the second quarter.
• Louisville trailed 1-0 heading into the break, despite leading Wake Forest 4-2 in shots and holding a 2-0 advantage in corners.
• Midway through the third quarter, Pastor converted the penalty and tied the game at one apiece.
• The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead when Aimee Plumb, Julie Kouijzer and Katie Schneiderconected on a trio of fourth quarter goals.
• In the game, Louisville outshot Wake Forest 12-3 and held a 5-4 edge in corners. Between the posts, Sam Minrath (5-3) finished the game with two saves.

CARDS THIRD IN NFHCA COACHES POLL
Louisville field hockey is ranked No. 3 in the Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches (NFHCA) Poll released on April 27. This marks the second straight week at No. 3 in the rankings and the seventh week (every poll) that Louisville has been ranked among the top four in the nation.
• The Cardinals debuted at No. 2, reaching the highest in program history after the Cardinals appeared at No. 4 in the 2002 campaign.
• The Cards have spent 19 weeks ranked in the top 10 spanning back to the 2019 season when they finished at No. 5.
• With the 2020-21 NFHCA rankings released on March 16, the Cardinals have now spent 84 straight weeks in the top 20 in the nation dating back to the 2013 season.

PASTOR, BITTING VAN OIRSCHOT EARN ALL-ACC HONORS
Mercedes Pastor was named to the first team while Alli Bitting and Charlie van Oirschot earned second team honors.
• Pastor, a forward/midfielder from Buenos Aires, Argentina, takes home her third straight all-ACC first team award after leading the Cardinals with 13 goals – five of them game-winners - and adding five assists for 31 points. While in the midst of a career-best season, she stands second in the ACC in both points and goals. The team co-captain and preseason all-conference selection was named ACC Player of the Week four times and NFHCA National Player of the Week three times this season.
• Bitting, a defender from Hummelstown, Pa., earns All-ACC second team honors for the second year in a row. The two-time NFHCA All-West Region selection and team co-captain led the team and is tied for first in the conference with a career-high eight assists. She was named ACC and NFHCA Defensive Player of the Week in October.
• Van Oirschot (Haarlem, The Netherlands) has made an impressive debut in her rookie season, starting all 18 games. The freshman forward has tallied four goals and dished out two assists.

HOW THE CARDS STACK UP
• Individually, Mercedes Pastor stands second in the conference with 13 goals/0.72 goals per game and 32 points/1.72 points per game.
• Alli Bitting is tied for the conference lead with eight assists/0.44 assists per game. Meghan Schneider is tied for fifth with seven. (.39 per game)
• Sam Minrath leads the ACC with a 1.1 goals against average.
• As a team, Louisville stands second in the league with 44 goals and a 1.28 goals against average.
• The Cardinals have earned a league-high 118 penalty corners.

ACC STRONG
• Despite a reduced 12-team bracket for this year's event in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACC placed multiple teams in the NCAA tournament field for the 26th consecutive season.
• 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).
• 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.
• 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.
• All seven ACC field hockey teams are currently ranked in the top 20. The Cardinals are among four ACC teams in the top 10 with North Carolina leading the way at No. 1, Louisville at No. 3, Boston College at No. 9 and Wake Forest standing 10th. No. 11 Syracuse, No. 13 Virginia and No. 19 Duke round out the ACC teams.

No. 3 Louisville Set for NCAA Field Hockey Championship

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Players Mentioned

Alli Bitting

Julie Kouijzer

Sam Minrath

Mercedes Pastor

Aimee Plumb

Katie Schneider

Meghan Schneider

Charlie van Oirschot

Madison Walsh

University of Louisville Athletics