Justine Sowry - Head Coach - Staff Directory - University of Louisville Athletic

Staff Directory

Justine Sowry

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
Phone:
852-0215

Head Coach - 15th season
15th season at Louisville: 186-97 (31-37 ACC/12-7 BIG EAST)
19th Season Overall: 244-128/65-48 Conference

Coaching Honors
At Louisville
• ACC Coach of the Year (2021)
• NFHCA West Region Coach of the Year (2016)
At UMass
• NHFCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year (2007, 2008, 2010)
• Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year (2008, 2010)

Team Accomplishments
At Louisville
• Led the Cardinals to nine NCAA tournament appearances (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)
• Louisville reached the quarterfinals in three of Louisville’s nine NCAA appearances (2019, 2020, 2023)
• Guided the Cardinals to the program’s first NCAA semifinal in 2020
• ACC Regular Season Champions (2020, 2021)
• BIG EAST Champions (2013)
At UMass
• Sowry led the team to three conference titles and three NCAA tournament appearances (2007, 2009, 2010)

Player Honors
At Louisville
• 26 NFHCA All-America selections
• 60 NFHCA All-Region selections
• 2 NFHCA West Region Players of the Year
• 36 All-ACC Team selections
• 12 All-BIG EAST Conference selections
• 3 NFHCA Scholar Athletes of the Year

At UMass
•19 A-10 All-Conference selections
•17 NFHCA All-Region selections
• 5 NFHCA All-Americans

Bio
Justine Sowry recently completed her 14th season as head coach of the University of Louisville field hockey team. During that time, Sowry has guided the Cardinals to 186 wins and three conference titles, including the 2021 regular season championship and 2020 ACC fall regular season crown as well as a pair of runner-up finishes in the ACC tournament.

Under Sowry's tutelage, Louisville has made nine NCAA tournament appearances, reaching the quarterfinals in three of the last five years. After earning national seeds in 2019 and 2020, the Cardinals advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2019 and reached the semifinals for the first time in program history in the 2020 campaign.

In the 14 seasons that Sowry has been at the helm, UofL has produced 26 National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-America selections and 60 All-Region team members. The Cardinals have also been a mainstay in the national rankings, spending 122 consecutive weeks in the top 20 from 2013-2024 and have stood among the top 10 in each of the last five seasons.

Most recently in a rebuilding year, Louisville tallied a 6-11 overall record in 2024. Aimee Plumb earned her third NFHCA All-America honor and was selected to the NFHCA All-West Region team along with Izzy Bianco.

In 2023, the Cards posted a 15-7 overall record and made their fifth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, reaching the quarterfinals for the third time in the last five years. Louisville also went 3-3 in ACC play and advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed. The Cards finished the season at No. 10 in the NFHCA Coaches' poll after spending 10 weeks ranked among the nation's the top 10, reaching as high as No. 4. Louisville also boasted one of the top defensive units in the nation, standing second in the ACC and fifth in the NCAA with a 1.08 team goals against average at the end of the season.

At the conclusion of the 2023 campaign, Mia Duchars and Julie Kouijzer earned NFHCA All-America honors, marking the ninth straight year the Cardinals have placed at least two players on the All-America teams, a streak which dates back to the 2015 season. Louisville also matched a program-record with seven NFHCA All-West Region honorees as Aimee Plumb, Minna Tremonti, Emilia Kaczmarczyk and India Reed joined Kouijzer on the all-region teams.

The 2023 Louisville team built upon the success of the 2022 squad which registered a 12-8 overall record after earning its fourth-straight NCAA tournament bid. The Cardinals were ranked No. 12 in the final NFHCA Coaches Poll after spending the entire season in the top 15 and reaching as high as No. 4 in the 2022 campaign. Julie Kouijzer and Aimee Plumb earned NFHCA All-America honors while Emilia Kaczmarczyk joined Kouijzer and Plumb on the NFHCA All-West Region squad.

On September 10, 2021, Louisville’s 1-0 win against Indiana gave Sowry her 200^th career win as a head coach, marking a milestone in an impressive career. That season, she was named the 2021 ACC Field Hockey Coach of the Year led the Cardinals to the ACC regular season title with a perfect 6-0 record against league opponents. Louisville finished the 2021 campaign with a 16-4 overall mark, tying a school record that was originally established in 2001 and matched by the 2016 squad. Highlights from the 2021 campaign include:
• Alli Bitting was tabbed ACC Defensive Player of the Year and goalkeeper Mila de Kuijer was the league Freshman of the Year to lead the Cardinals’ four-ACC first team selections. Bitting was also named the ACC Field Hockey Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year.
• Bitting, Julie Kouijzer and Aimee Plumb went on to earn NFHCA All-America honors, marking the fifth straight year with three All-Americans for the Cardinals.

Sowry joined the Cardinals on December 16, 2010 when Vice President for Athletics Tom Jurich announced that she would become the program’s eighth head field hockey coach. Sowry returned to where her collegiate coaching career started when she was an assistant under head coach Pam Bustin from 1998 through 2002.

In her first season at the helm, Sowry’s 2011 squad featured six underclassmen in the starting lineup and posted 10 wins while earning the Cards’ seventh straight appearance in the BIG EAST semifinals. Five players earned league honors and Hayley Turner was named BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Year. Additionally, Turner and Collins were NFHCA All-West Region selections. Turner went on to become the seventh player in program history to earn All-American status.

Louisville would go on to capture the 2013 BIG EAST regular season title before moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference in the 2014 season. The Cardinals quickly established their presence in the league in 2014, posting a 3-3 conference record including a win over then-top-ranked North Carolina, marking the program's first win over a top-ranked team. Louisville went on to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

In 2016, Sowry was named Front Rush/NFHCA West Region Coach of the Year after directing the Cardinals to a 15-6 overall record and their third-straight NCAA appearance. UofL also posted 3-3 mark in the ACC to finish in a four-way tie for third.

Louisville continued to achieve new heights in 2017, posting a runner-up finish in the ACC championship. UofL also registered a 4-2 record in ACC play - the most wins since joining the conference in 2014 - and finished tied for second in the regular season standings. The Cardinals achieved several program firsts in 2017 including placing three players on the NFHCA All-America teams - including two with first-team honors when Nicole Woods (first team), Ayeisha McFerran (first team) and Taylor Stone (third team) earned the accolades. Woods became Louisville’s first NFHCA West Region Player of the Year, she was joined on the All-West Region first team by McFerran, Stone and Minout Mink while Carter Ayars earned second team honors. In the spring of 2017, Erin McCrudden was the first Cardinal to earn a spot on USA Field Hockey’s national team with Woods following quickly, achieving her first USWNT cap over the summer.

In 2018, three players, Ayeisha McFerran (first team), Mercedes Pastor (second team) and Taylor Stone earned Longstreth/NFHCA All-America honors, marking the second straight season the Cardinals placed three on the All-America squads. McFerran finished her career as the program's first four-time All-American.

The 2019 campaign tied a program mark for wins and earned the overall No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, serving as a host site for the first time in program history. Louisville also made its first foray into the NCAA quarterfinals after defeating Michigan 2-1 in double-overtime in its first-round matchup. UofL finished the season at No. 5 in the NFHCA Coaches poll – the best final ranking in program history at the time. Mercedes Pastor was named a finalist for the Class of 2020 Honda Sport Award for Field Hockey and for the third straight year, three UofL players earned NFHCA All-America honors: Pastor was named to the first team, Alli Bitting was a second team selection and Carter Ayars garnered third team honors.

The COVID-19-impacted 2020 season was one of the most challenging, but also the most rewarding for Sowry's Cardinals who reached the program's first NCAA semifinal appearance. 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.

Playing an unprecedented spring season in 2021, the Cards went on to earn the highest ranking in program history at No. 2 despite the loss of three seniors who opted out following the fall 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. Competing in their first-ever Final Four, the Cardinals battled with the No. 2 seed Michigan but eventually fell 2-1 in a sudden-victory shootout.

In addition to the team achievements, Sowry's squad also amassed several impressive individual accolades, landing three players on the NFHCA All-America teams, marking the fourth straight year the Cardinals had three NFHCA All-America selection and matching a program record set in 2017. Mercedes Pastor was selected to the first team, Alli Bitting garnered second team honors and Megan Schneider was named to the third team. Schneider was tabbed the NFHCA Scholar Athlete of the Year and was the 2020-21 NCAA Elite 90 Award Winner –becoming the first Louisville player to win the awards. She was also a Honda Award Finalist for Field Hockey, marking UofL’s second consecutive Honda Award Finalist, following Pastor’s achievement in 2020.
• Pastor was named the 2020-21 West Region Player of the Year, becoming the second Louisville player to earn the honor. She was also an ACC Postgraduate Scholarship recipient.

Success in the classroom
• Sowry’s teams have also been successful in the classroom and recently achieved a perfect mark in the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate report. In each of her seasons at Louisville, the Cardinals have earned NFHCA All-Academic team honors for achieving a team GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• Aimee Plumb was named the NFHCA National Scholar Athlete of the Year in back-to-back seasons, earning the honor in 2021 and 2022.
• In 2020, Meghan Schneider was named the NFHCA Scholar Athlete of the Year and the 2020 NCAA Elite 90 Award Winner –becoming the first Louisville player to win the awards. She was also a Honda Award Finalist for Field Hockey, marking UofL’s second consecutive Honda Award Finalist, following Pastor’s achievement following the 2019 campaign.
• The following season, Alli Bitting was named 2021 ACC Field Hockey Co-Scholar Athlete of the year, she became the second ACC Field Hockey Scholar Athlete of the Year following Nicole Woods’ honor in 2017. Aimee Plumb followed suit in 2022.

Leaders in community service
• The UofL field hockey team has also been a leader in community service through Louisville’s CardsCare program, winning the 2016 Spring Helper Helper Community Service Bracket Challenge and being recognized as the No. 1 program across all sports and divisions in community service hours per student-athlete. Sowry’s teams garnered the most community service hours of any Louisville team in 2015.
• In 2020-21 campaign, Meghan Schneider and Sam Minrath were honored as two of the Cardinals' recipients of the 2020-2021 ACC Top 6 for Service Award.
• Izzy Bianco earned the award in 2025.

At UMass
Sowry came to UofL after four seasons as the head coach at UMass. During her time there, she compiled a 58-31 overall record, including a mark of 22-4 in Atlantic 10 play. Under her guidance, the Minutewomen earned powerhouse status in the Atlantic 10 and on the national level, claiming three A-10 championships and NCAA appearances (2007, 2008 and 2010). She was a three-time A-10 Coach of the Year and was twice named the NFHCA Division I Northeast Region Coach of Year.

During her four-year tenure at UMass, she coached 19 A-10 All-Conference selections, 17 All-Region selections, and five All-Americans. Sowry led the team to three conference titles and three NCAA tournament appearances. The Minutewomen posted 17 wins in the 2008 season and reached as high as No. 9 in the NFHCA rankings. Sowry’s teams also produced solid defensive efforts, being consistently ranked among the nation’s top 10 in shutouts and goals-against average.

Prior to her time at UMass, Sowry served as a USA High Performance Coach with the U.S. Field Hockey Association (USFHA) from 2003-07. During her stint there, she was the director of all goalkeeping programs. Sowry coached Amy Tran, who was named the Goalkeeper of the Tournament at the 2006 World Cup in Madrid, Spain in addition to being named to the FIH World Team of the Year.

While Sowry was an assistant coach with the U.S. National team in 2006, the team placed sixth in the world at the games in Madrid. She also assisted with the 2005 Junior National Team which placed seventh in the Junior World Cup in Santiago, Chile.

Before joining the USFHA, Sowry spent a year as an assistant coach for the Stanford University field hockey program (2003).

Sowry began her coaching career at the University of Louisville, where she spent five years (1998-2002) as an assistant coach to Pam Bustin. She aided Bustin in orchestrating one of the most remarkable program-building efforts in the nation. In their first season, the Cardinals snapped a 34-game losing streak and went on to produce winning records in each season from 2000-03 including the MAC conference championship in 2002.

As a player
The Adelaide, Australia-native was a member of the Australian National Hockey Team from 1991-2001. She tallied 128 international appearances, and was a member of the country’s 1996 and 2000 Olympic squads. She earned gold medals while playing on World Cup teams in 1994 and 1998.

The former goalkeeper has coached players who have collected eight NFHCA All-America honors, including four-time All-American Ayeisha McFerran who was also named the Best Goalkeeper of the 2018 World Cup while playing for the Irish National Team. Sowry’s goalkeepers have also garnered 10 NFHCA All-Region honors.

Sowry earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education and mathematics from the University of South Australia in 1991.

Head coaching accomplishments
At Louisville
2023 – Finished the season with a 15-7 overall record and a 3-3 in ACC play, earning its fifth-straight NCAA tournament bid and reaching the quarterfinals for the third time in the last five years. The Cardinals were ranked No. 10 in the final NFHCA Coaches Poll after spending the entire season in the top 10 and reaching as high as No. 4.

2022 – Posted a 12-8 overall record after earning fourth-straight NCAA tournament bid. The Cardinals were ranked No. 12 in the final NFHCA Coaches Poll after spending the entire season in the top 15 and reaching as high as No. 4.

2021 – Finished the season with a 16-4 overall mark, tying a school record.
• Named ACC Coach of the Year after leading the Cardinals to the ACC regular season title with a 6-0 record against league opponents.
• Earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, but lost in the first round in a shootout to eventual NCAA semifinalist Harvard.
• Alli Bitting named 2021 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and Mila de Kuijer was the ACC Freshman of the Year.

2020-21 – Finished the 2020-21 season with a 14-6 overall record and ranked No. 3 in the NFHCA coaches poll, the highest final ranking after reaching as high as No. 2
• 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
• Runner-up finish to UNC in the fall ACC tournament
• In the spring, earned the overall No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament
• Advanced to the program’s first NCAA Final Four – falling 2-1 to No. 2 Michigan in a sudden-victory shootout.

2019 – Produced a 16-6 overall record - tying a school record for wins; reached as high as No. 5 in rankings
• Earned the overall No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, hosted first and second rounds
• Advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in program history.

2018 - Posted a 13-6 overall record, reached as high as No. 7 in rankings

2017 – Finished with a 14-8 overall record (4-2 ACC); NCAA first round; Tied for second in ACC regular season; Finished runner-up in ACC Championship

2016 – Earned a 15-6 overall record (303 ACC); NCAA first round
• 2016 Front Rush/NFHCA West Region Coach of the Year

2015 – Posted a 13-7 overall record (1-5 ACC); NCAA first round

2014 – Finished with a 15-6 overall record (303 ACC); NCAA first round

2013 – Finished with a 15-5 overall record (6-1 BIG EAST); Louisville won a share of the BIG EAST Regular Season title

At UMass
• 2010 - Dita/NFHCA Division I Northeast Region Coach of the Year
• 2010 - Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year
   • UMass won 2010 A-10 championship and earned an NCAA tournament at-large bid
• 2009 - Led UMass to 2009 A-10 title and an NCAA tournament bid
• 2008 - Dita/NFHCA Division I Northeast Region Coach of the Year
• 2008 - Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year
• 2007 - WomensFieldHockey.com National Coach of the Year
• 2007 - Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year
   • Led the Minutewomen to 2007 A-10 title and an NCAA tournament appearance
• USA Level III Accreditation
As an assistant coach
• USA Field Hockey Goalkeeping Coach (2003-07)
• USA Junior World Cup (2005, 2009)
• USA Junior Pan American Games (2005)
• Stanford (2003)
• Louisville (1998-2002)

Playing Career
• Australian National Team (1991-2001)
   - Two-time World Cup Gold Medalist (1994, 1998)
   - Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist (1998)
   - Two-time Champions Trophy Gold Medalist (1993, 1995)
   - 128 International caps