The No. 10-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. to face No. 9 Northwestern in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Field Hockey Championship Saturday, Nov. 11. Host third-ranked Michigan the tournament’s overall No. 3 seed, will face 11th-ranked Syracuse the other first round matchup Saturday.
The winner of the first and second rounds will advance to the NCAA semifinals which will take place Nov. 17 at Louisville’s Trager Stadium., with the national championship game being played on Nov. 17 at 2 p.m.
Louisville has played all three opponents in the Ann Arbor field this season. Louisville fell 2-0 at Northwestern on Sept. 19. The Cardinals lost a 6-0 decision to Michigan at Trager Stadium on Oct. 22 and defeated Syracuse twice with a 3-2 double overtime win in the regular season on Sept. 29 and 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship on Nov. 2.
About Louisville
This marks Louisville’s fourth straight at-large bid and seventh overall NCAA appearance. The Cardinals (14-7) are coming off of a 1-0 loss to No. 6 North Carolina in the finals of the ACC Championship Sunday afternoon at Louisville’s Trager Stadium.
Louisville finished tied for second in the ACC regular season standings with a 4-2 conference record and earned the No. 3 seed in the ACC Championship. The four ACC wins were the most for the Cards since joining the conference in 2014.
Cardinal Quick Hits
• The Cardinals are led in scoring by sophomore two-time All-ACC selection Minout Mink who has 10 goals and 23 points. Ayeisha McFerran carries a 1.85 goals against average after being sidelined by injury for the first three games of the season.
• UofL placed four players on the All-ACC teams: Ayeisha McFerran earned her second All-ACC first team nod, while Nicole Woods garners her fourth. Minout Mink was named to the second team for the second straight year and Taylor Stone makes her All-ACC debut on the second team.
• Justine Sowry is in her seventh season at the helm for the Cardinals. The 2016 NFHCA West Region Coach of the Year has compiled a 94-47 record at Louisville and has an overall 152-77 record while in her 11th season as a head coach.
Up Last:
• Louisville earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament after posting a runner-up finish in the ACC Championship at its own Trager Stadium after winning their first quarterfinal game since joining the league in 2014. Louisville defeated Syracuse 3-2 in the quarterfinals and followed with a thrilling 3-2 shootout victory against No. 2 Duke in the semifinals to reach the title game where they fell 1-0 to North Carolina.
• McFerran, sophomore Carter Ayars and freshman Alli Bitting were named to the ACC All-Tournament team.
Cards in the NCAA Tournament
2016 – First round (at Duke)
#8 Delaware 1 – #9 Louisville 0
2015 – First round (at Connecticut)
#3 Connecticut 3 -#9 Louisville 0
2014 – First round (at Connecticut)
#4 Stanford 2 – #10 Louisville 1/OT
2008 – First round (at Michigan State)
#6 Iowa 1 – #13 Louisville 0
2004 – Play-in game (at Pacific)
Pacific 1 – Louisville 0/OT
2003 – First round (at Michigan State)
Michigan State 2 – Louisville 0
Lori Korte
Assistant Sports Information Director
University of Louisville Athletics
