The eighth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team has earned the No. 6 seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship and will face third-seeded and fifth-ranked Virginia in the quarterfinals Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Duke’s Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium. The game will air on the ACC Network.
NOTE CARDS
• The Cardinals finished the regular season with a 12-6 overall record and a 1-5 mark in ACC play following a 4-1 loss to No. 22 Boston College on Friday.
• Tuesday’s matchup against No. 5 Virginia will mark Louisville’s 11th game against a ranked opponent this season. The Cards are 5-5 in those games with wins against then-No. 4 Michigan, No. 13 Princeton, No. 11 Penn State, No. 16 Liberty and No. 24 Duke.
• The Cardinals have registered 33 goals this season with 10 different players contributing to the total. Six players have registered multiple goals.
• Aimee Plumb leads the team with 23 points, eight goals and seven assists – all career highs.
• Five of Plumb’s eight goals have stood as game winners against Penn State, Penn, Fairfield and Liberty. She ranks third in the ACC in game-winning goals.
• Graduate senior Sasha Elliott (12-6) carries a 1.27 goals against average, standing fourth in the ACC and 18th in the NCAA. Her five shutouts are tied for the conference lead. She also leads the ACC and stands fourth in the nation with an .800 save percentage.
• 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.
• The Oct. 23 loss at Cornell snapped an 11-game win streak against non-conference opponents this season and marked Louisville’s lone loss against an unranked team.
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 164 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 OPPONENTS
Virginia, Nov. 1 p.m. (ACCN)
Series Record: Virginia leads 10-8
Last Meeting: Sept. 30, 2022 – Virginia won 2-0 in Charlottesville
2022 Recap: The Cavaliers took an early lead in the third minute of play when Dani Mendez-Trendler notched the first of her two goals in the game. She struck again at the 11:48 mark in the first quarter to make the score 2-0.
• Overall, Virginia outshot Louisville 12-9 with an 8-4 advantage in shots on goal while the Cards held a 5-1 edge in penalty corners. Goalkeeper Sasha Elliott (8-2) collected six stops for the Cardinals.
Scouting the Cavaliers: Virginia enters the ACC quarterfinals following a 2-0 loss at No. 2 Maryland. Prior to that, the Cavaliers defeated Kent State 3-0 on senior day.
• Laura Janssen leads the team with 22 points and 10 goals.
• Jet Trimborn (8-3) carries a 1.06 goals against average with four shutouts on the season.
NOTE: Tuesday’s contest will feature a rematch of the 2021 ACC semifinals which saw the Cavaliers win 2-1 in a sudden-victory shootout.
CARDS EIGHTH IN NFHCA COACHES POLL
UofL stands at No. 8 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association rankings released on Oct. 25. The Cards dropped four spots after a pair of road losses last weekend, falling to then-No. 12 Syracuse and Cornell. The updated rankings will be released on Tuesday.
• UofL has been ranked among the top 10 for the last 39 ranking periods spanning back to the 2019 season when they appeared at No. 8 on Sept. 10.
• Louisville has now spent 104 consecutive weeks in the top 20 in the nation dating back to the 2013 season.
NEXT UP
The Cardinals will learn their NCAA tournament fate on Sunday when the NCAA selection show airs on NCAA.com at 10 p.m.
| Lori Korte HarmonAssistant Sports Information Director | Louisville Athletics |