No. 5 Cards Hit the Road to Face No. 7 Virginia, VCU

WEEKEND INFORMATION
No. 5 Louisville at No. 7 Virginia
Date: Sept. 30, 3:00 PM
Location: Charlottesville, Va.
Venue: Turf Field
Television: ACC Network Extra
Game Links: Live Scoring | ACCNX Watch

No. 5 Louisville at VCU
Date: Oct. 2, 12:30 PM
Location: Richmond, Va.
Venue: Cary Street Field
Television: ESPN+
Game Links: Live Scoring | ESPN+ Watch
Louisville Game Notes

The fifth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team will embark a four-game road stretch starting on Friday with a top-10 ACC matchup at No. 7 Virginia. UofL will continue the road trip with a game at VCU on Sunday.

NOTE CARDS
• The Cardinals bring an 8-1 record into the weekend after 2-0 win against Indiana on Friday. The win marked Louisville's second straight shutout and the third on the season.
• Louisville is coming off of a five-game home stretch and posted a 4-1 record at Trager Stadium with its only loss coming to No. 2 North Carolina.
• Friday's contest at Virginia marks the fifth time Louisville has face a ranked opponent - the Cards are 3-1 in those games with wins against then-No. 4 Michigan, No. 13 Princeton and No. 11 Penn State.
• Louisville started the season with six straight wins for the third straight consecutive year before falling to then-No. 2 North Carolina on Sept. 16.
• The Cardinals have registered 20 goals this season with eight different players contributing to the total. Five players have registered multiple goals.
• Graduate transfer Sasha Elliott (8-1) carries an 0.89 goals against average which stands second in the ACC and fifth in the NCAA. Her .852 save percentage also leads the ACC and ranks second in the nation.
• Aimee Plumb leads the team offensively with 11 points (3G, 5A). Julie Kouijzer, Katie Schneider and Mattie Tabor have scored four goals apiece.
• Plumb was recently named to the NFHCA Collegiate Watch List. She was also selected to the 2022 Preseason All-ACC Field Hockey team in a vote by the league's seven head coaches. The Cardinals were picked to finish fifth in the regular season

Head Coach Justine Sowry
2021 ACC Coach of the Year Justine Sowry is in her 12th season at the helm. During her time at Louisville, she has guided the Cardinals to 161 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 three conference titles, including back-to-back ACC regular season crowns (2020, 2021) as well as a pair of runner-up finishes in the ACC Championships.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
No. 7 Virginia, Sept. 30 - 3 p.m. (ACCNX)
Series Record: UVA leads 9-8
Last Meeting: Nov. 5, 2021 - Virginia edge Louisville 2-1 in a sudden-victory shootout in the semifinals of the ACC tournament. Prior to that the Cardinals had won the previous five meetings between the teams.
Scouting the Cavaliers: Virginia enters Friday's game with a 5-3 overall record and a 1-1 mark in ACC play. The Cavaliers are coming off of a 3-0 win over No. 11 Syracuse.
• UVA is led by Laura Janssen who has tallied seven goals.
• Tyler Kennedy (3-3) has taken on the bulk of the goalkeeping duties with a 1.99 goals against average in 314 minutes. Jet Trimborn (2-0) has a 0.83 goals against average in 144 minutes of play.

VCU, Oct. 2 - 12:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Series Record: Louisville leads 6-2
Last Meeting: Sept. 8, 2001 - Louisville leads 6-2 at Trager Stadium
Scouting the Rams: VCU (6-3) is riding a three-game win streak entering the weekend prior to a Friday A10 matchup against Saint Louis.
• The Rams are coming off of back-to-back shutouts against Ohio (3-0) and LaSalle (4-0) last weekend.
• VCU is led offensively by Bridget McCormick, who has tallied four goals and two assists for 10 points. Litiana Field follows closely with four goals and one assist.
• Sheridan Messier carries a 2.04 goals against average with one shutout and a .744 save percentage.
CARDINAL CONNECTIONS:
• Louisville goalkeeper Sasha Elliott was a four-year standout for VCU where she was a two-time NFHCA All-South Region selection... Tabbed as the Atlantic 10 Championship Most Outstanding Player and earned All-Atlantic 10 first team honors in the 2020-21 season.
• Former Cardinal field hockey great Kayla May is in her sixth season at VCU and fourth as the Rams' Associate Head Coach. May played for Louisville from 2006-09 and helped the Cards to a NCAA appearance in 2009. In her career, she tallied 21 goals and 45 points.

CARDS FIFTH IN NFHCA COACHES POLL
UofL stands at No. 5 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association rankings released on Sept. 27. The Cards slipped one spot after a 2-0 win against Indiana last week. Prior to that, Louisville stood at No.4 for back-to-back weeks. The Cards started the 2022 campaign at No. 9 in the preseason poll.
• This marks the fourth consecutive top-five ranking for the Cards who also spent nine weeks among the top five in 2021, including the final eight ranking periods of the regular season. They reached as high as No. 3 on Sept. 28 and Oct. 5.
• The Cards have been ranked among the top 10 for the last 35 ranking periods spanning back to the 2019 season when they appeared at No. 8 on Sept. 10.
• Louisville has now spent 100 consecutive weeks in the top 20 in the nation dating back to the 2013 season.
• In 2020-21 the Cardinals spent 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.

UP NEXT
Louisville will wrap up its tough four-game road swing next weekend when the Cards hit the road to face a pair of ranked opponents starting with an ACC matchup at No. 17 Wake Forest on Friday followed by a Sunday contest at 2021 NCAA Runner-Up No. 14 Liberty.

UP LAST
Freshman Jane Ramsay delivered her first career goals and graduate senior Sasha Elliott posted three saves as the fourth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team defeated Indiana 2-0 in the 11th annual Battle of the Border Friday evening at Trager Stadium.

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Players Mentioned

Sasha Elliott

Julie Kouijzer

Aimee Plumb

Jane Ramsay

Katie Schneider

Mattie Tabor

University of Louisville Athletics