Pastor, Schneider named to NFHCA Division I Senior Team
May 19, 2021 | Field Hockey
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville's Mercedes Pastor and Meghan Schneider have been named to the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association (NFHCA) Division I Senior Team as announced by the organization today.
The in-person 2020 NFHCA Senior Game was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the 2021 Virtual Coaches Caucus, the NFHCA Division I membership agreed to continue to recognize a selected group from the graduating class of 2021 who either played or would have played their senior season during the 2020-2021 academic year. All ten Division I conferences and five NCAA regions that sponsor field hockey are represented on the list of 2020 honorees.
The selected student-athletes were nominated by their NFHCA member coach and were chosen based on their career accomplishments. Senior Team members are listed alphabetically below, first by institution, then by last name.
Pastor, a senior midfielder/forward from Buenos Aires, Argentina earned her third straight all-ACC honor this season after leading the Cardinals with 13 goals – five of them game-winners. She also dished out six assists, including one in Louisville's 1-0 win over No. 6 UConn in the NCAA quarterfinals and totaled 32 points. With her career-best season efforts, she finished the year ranked second in goals and points. The preseason all-conference selection was named ACC Player of the Week four times and NFHCA National Player of the Week three times. She is also a two-time NFHCA All-America and all-West Region selection (2018, 2019)
Schneider, a defender from San Diego, Calif., has been an integral part of the Cardinals' defense throughout her career while playing in every game as a Cardinal. The three-year starter and team co-captain, earned NFHCA All-West Region Second Team honors in 2019 and was the NFHCA National Defensive Player of the Week on October 7, 2020. She helped direct the Cardinals to 17 shutouts over the last four years – including a 1-0 win against No. 6 UConn in the NCAA quarterfinals to send Louisville to the NCAA Semifinals for the first time in program history.
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Louisville finished the 2020-21 season with a 14-6 overall record and ranked No. 3 in the NFHCA coaches poll and achieved numerous milestones along the way, including reaching the program's first NCAA Final Four. In the fall, the Cards won the ACC regular season title and earned the top seed in the conference tournament after producing a 5-1 record which included a win over two-time defending national champion North Carolina, snapping the Tar Heels' NCAA-best 47-game win streak. Louisville posted a runner-up finish to UNC in the fall ACC tournament. In the spring, Louisville went on to earn the highest ranking in program history at No. 2 despite the loss of three seniors who opted out for the spring campaign. UofL earned the overall No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, marking the second straight season as a national seed, and went on to beat No. 6 UConn in the quarterfinals to advance to its first NCAA semifinal. Pitted against the No. 2 seed, Michigan, the Cardinals lost 2-1 in a sudden-victory shootout.
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The in-person 2020 NFHCA Senior Game was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the 2021 Virtual Coaches Caucus, the NFHCA Division I membership agreed to continue to recognize a selected group from the graduating class of 2021 who either played or would have played their senior season during the 2020-2021 academic year. All ten Division I conferences and five NCAA regions that sponsor field hockey are represented on the list of 2020 honorees.
The selected student-athletes were nominated by their NFHCA member coach and were chosen based on their career accomplishments. Senior Team members are listed alphabetically below, first by institution, then by last name.
Pastor, a senior midfielder/forward from Buenos Aires, Argentina earned her third straight all-ACC honor this season after leading the Cardinals with 13 goals – five of them game-winners. She also dished out six assists, including one in Louisville's 1-0 win over No. 6 UConn in the NCAA quarterfinals and totaled 32 points. With her career-best season efforts, she finished the year ranked second in goals and points. The preseason all-conference selection was named ACC Player of the Week four times and NFHCA National Player of the Week three times. She is also a two-time NFHCA All-America and all-West Region selection (2018, 2019)
Schneider, a defender from San Diego, Calif., has been an integral part of the Cardinals' defense throughout her career while playing in every game as a Cardinal. The three-year starter and team co-captain, earned NFHCA All-West Region Second Team honors in 2019 and was the NFHCA National Defensive Player of the Week on October 7, 2020. She helped direct the Cardinals to 17 shutouts over the last four years – including a 1-0 win against No. 6 UConn in the NCAA quarterfinals to send Louisville to the NCAA Semifinals for the first time in program history.
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Louisville finished the 2020-21 season with a 14-6 overall record and ranked No. 3 in the NFHCA coaches poll and achieved numerous milestones along the way, including reaching the program's first NCAA Final Four. In the fall, the Cards won the ACC regular season title and earned the top seed in the conference tournament after producing a 5-1 record which included a win over two-time defending national champion North Carolina, snapping the Tar Heels' NCAA-best 47-game win streak. Louisville posted a runner-up finish to UNC in the fall ACC tournament. In the spring, Louisville went on to earn the highest ranking in program history at No. 2 despite the loss of three seniors who opted out for the spring campaign. UofL earned the overall No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, marking the second straight season as a national seed, and went on to beat No. 6 UConn in the quarterfinals to advance to its first NCAA semifinal. Pitted against the No. 2 seed, Michigan, the Cardinals lost 2-1 in a sudden-victory shootout.
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Players Mentioned
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