No. 16 Cards Set for a Pair of Ranked ACC Opponents

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The No. 16-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team will return to Atlantic Coast Conference play this weekend when the Cardinals hit the road to face a pair of ranked opponents starting with a matchup at No. 15 Syracuse Friday at 4 p.m. On Sunday, Louisville will continue its stretch of five games against ranked foes when they travel to No. 3 Virginia for a 12 p.m. start.

WEEKEND INFORMATION
Louisville at Syracuse
Date: Oct. 4, 2024
Location: Syracuse, N.Y.
Venue: J.S. Coyne Stadium
Television: ACC Network Extra
Live Scoring | ACCNX Watch Link

Louisville at Virginia
Date: Oct. 6, 2024
Location: Charlottesville, Va.
Venue: Turf Field
Television: ACC Network Extra
Live Scoring | ACCNX Watch Link

LOUISVILLE FIELD HOCKEY QUICK HITS
• Louisville brings a 5-5 record and a 1-1 mark in ACC play into the weekend. The Cards have dropped their last two games by one goal each including a 1-0 setback against then-No. 12 Boston College on Saturday and a 4-3 overtime heartbreaker at No. 4 Ohio State on Sunday.
• Rylie Wollerton leads the team with five goals and has added two assists for 12 points. Izzy Bianco follows with three goals and two assists for eight points. A total of nine players have accounted for at least one of the Cardinals' 20 goals on the season with six players recording multiple goals.
• Emily Young and Brandelynn Heinbaugh have split goalkeeper duties thus far. Heinbaugh, a grad transfer from JMU has a 0.96 goals against average with wins against Penn and Stanford, while Young, a redshirt freshman, carries a 2.40 goals against average, earning the victories against American University, Cornell and Ball State.
• Izzy Bianco, Mia Duchars and Aimee Plumb were tabbed to the 2024 NFHCA Division I Watchlist.
• Aimee Plumb was named to the 2024 Preseason All-ACC team as voted on by the league's head coaches. The Cardinals were picked to finish in a tie for fourth in the preseason poll.
• The Cardinals' eight-game home slate features four ACC opponents including defending national champion North Carolina along with a non-conference showdown with NCAA runner-up Northwestern.

Scouting the Opponents
Louisville at Syracuse
Series History: Syracuse leads 14-9
Last Meeting: October 20, 2023 - Syracuse won 4-1 at Trager Stadium.
Scouting the Orange: Syracuse comes in with a 6-3 overall record and 1-2 in ACC play. The Orange are coming off a 1-0 shootout loss to No. 9 Duke on Sunday. Prior to that, the Orange picked up a 1-0 win over Wake Forest on Friday.
• Bo van Kempen leads the team with six goals and two assists in eight games while Willemjin Boogert has two goals and four assists in nine games for the Orange.
• Louise Pert carries a 1.57 goals against average and has helped Syracuse to three shutouts.
• Lynn Farquhar is in her second season with the Orange with a career record of 118-51 as Head Coach. In 2023, Syracuse finished in the NCAA Quarterfinals with an 11-8 record and 2-4 in the ACC.

Louisville at Virginia
Series History: Virginia leads 11-9
Last Meeting: Sept. 29, 2023 - Louisvile won 2-0 at Trager Stadium behind goals from Minna Tremonti and Izzy Bianco.
Scouting the Cavaliers: Virginia enters the weekend with a perfect 9-0 overall record and leads the ACC standings with 3-0 mark in league play prior to a Friday matchup at Boston College. The Cavaliers have picked conference wins over Cal, Stanford and Duke.
• Suze Leemans leads the team with five goals and one assist while Daniela Mendez-Trendler has posted three goals and four assists in nine games.
• Tyler Kennedy has started all nine games for the Cavaliers and carries a 0.99 goals against average with a trio of shutouts.
• Ole Keusgen is in his second season with the Cavaliers with a 3-2 record after taking over at the end of the 2023 season when he guided the team to the NCAA Semifinals.

UP NEXT
• Louisville will continue ACC action next weekend when the Cardinals play host to No. 2 North Carolina Friday at 3 p.m. at Trager Stadium and then hit the road to face Wake Forest Sunday at 1 p.m.

RECAPPING LAST WEEKEND
Louisville dropped a pair of hard-fought games against ranked opponents last weekend, losing each by a one-goal margin.
• On Saturday, the Cards suffered their first ACC loss in a 1-0 setback at the hands of No. 13 Boston College. The contest was originally slated for Friday evening, but was moved to Saturday due to inclement weather.
• With a short turnaround, Louisville travel to Columbus, Ohio to face No. 4 Ohio State. After a scoreless first half, the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead behind Izzy Bianco's goal in the third quarter only to find themselves down 3-1 midway through the fourth quarter. Rylie Wollerton pulled Louisville within a goal and Chloe Plumb scored with 1:10 remaining in regulation to force overtime. The Buckeyes prevailed 4-3 in the fourth minute of extra time.

CARDS NO. 16 IN NFHCA COACHES POLL
UofL stands at No. 16 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Coaches Poll released on Oct. 1, dropping three from its previous spot.
• Louisville has now spent 122 consecutive weeks in the top 20 in the nation dating back to the 2013 season.
• The Cardinals finished the 2023 campaign at No. 10 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA poll released on Nov. 7, marking the second straight and 10th overall week in the top 10 last season.

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Players Mentioned

Izzy Bianco

Mia Duchars

Brandelynn Heinbaugh

Aimee Plumb

Chloe Plumb

Minna Tremonti

Rylie Wollerton

Emily Young

University of Louisville Athletics