After four straight road games, the fifth-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team will open a five-game home stretch starting with Sept. 9 matchup against James Madison at 5 p.m. and a top-five showdown against No. 4 Michigan on Sept. 11 at Trager Stadium. Admission is free to all home games.
Friday’s game against JMU will be streamed on ACC Network Extra with (announcers and Suzanne Bush providing analysis. Sunday’s contest will air on the ACC Network with Leah Secondo handling play-by-play duties and Suzanne Bush serving as the analyst.
NOTE CARDS
• Friday’s game will mark the first regular season contest on Louisville’s newly-installed turf.
• The Cardinals bring a 4-0 record into the weekend after a pair of wins against Penn and No. 13 Princeton in the ACC/Ivy League Crossover.
• Katie Schneider has been named the ACC Field Hockey Co-Offensive Player of the Week, while Julie Kouijzer earned Defensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 6.
• With the victory over No. 13 Princeton, two of the Cardinals’ four wins have come against teams ranked among the top 15 in the NFHCA Preseason poll. Louisville also defeated No. 11 Penn in its opening weekend. The tough slate against ranked opponents will continue when No. 2 Michigan pays a visit to Trager Stadium on Sunday.
• In 2021, the Cardinals started the season with a 7-0 record for the second straight year, matching a school record start before falling 2-0 to the Hawkeyes.
• After leading the Cardinals with nine goals last season, Katie Schneider now paces the team with four goals in the early 2022 campaign. The fifth-year player has tallied 23 career goals.
• The Cardinals have registered 10 goals this season with five different players contributing to the total.
• Graduate transfer Sasha Elliott (4-0) carries a 1.00 goals against average and an .857 save percentage.
• Junior Aimee Plumb has been named 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
• UofL returns four of its top scorers from last year in Katie Schneider, Plumb, Kouijzer and Mattie Tabor. Schneider led the team with nine goals, followed by Plumb (seven), Tabor (six) and Kouijzer (five). The four of them combined for 27 of Louisville’s 47 goals last 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 153 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
James Madison, Sept. 9, 5 p.m. (ACCNX)
Series Record: Louisville leads 5-2
Last Meeting: Oct. 24, 2021 – Louisville won 1-0 in Harrisonburg, Va.
Scouting the Dukes: JMU is coming off a 12-7 overall record in 2021. They are currently 2-2 right now in the season after a 3-1 victory over Richmond, a 6-2 win over Bucknell, a 1-6 loss to Old Dominion, and a 2-3 overtime loss to No. 12 Virginia.
• Senior Diede Remijnse is JMU’s leading scorer this season with four goals in four games.
• Freshman Alice Roeper and graduate student Kara McClure each have a team-high five assists in four games.
Michigan, Sept. 11, 12 p.m. (ACC Network)
Series Record: Michigan leads 12-4-1
Last Meeting: Oct. 10, 2022 – Louisville lost 2-1 at Michigan.
Scouting the Wolverines: Michigan is currently ranked No. 4 in the most recent NFHCA Coaches poll. The Wolverines opened the season with a 5-1 loss to No. 2 North Carolina, but followed with a 3-1 victory over No. 20 Wake Forest, and a 9-0 win over Central Michigan. The Wolverines will host Miami (Ohio) on Thursday before traveling to Louisville for Sunday’s game. Last season, Michigan posted a 16-5 overall record at No. 2 in the national rankings.
• Sophomore Abby Tamer is Michigan’s leading scorer this season with 12 goals scored in just three games.
• Alana Richardson (sophomore) is second in goals scored with seven and leads in shooting percentage with .750.
CARDS FIFTH IN NFHCA COACHES POLL
UofL stands at No. 5 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association rankings released on Sept. 6. Louisville jumped four spots after starting the 2022 campaign at No. 9 in the preseason poll. The Cards have opened the season with four straight wins with two coming against ranked opponents.
• The Cards have been ranked among the top 10 for the last 32 ranking periods spanning back to the 2019 season when they appeared at No. 8 on Sept. 10.
• The last time Louisville was ranked in the top five was in the 2021 campaign when the Cards spent nine weeks among the top five, including the final eight ranking periods of the regular season. They reached as high as No. 3 on Sept. 28 and Oct. 5.
• Louisville has now spent 97 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 continue its five-game home stand next weekend when the Cardinals play host to No. 2 North Carolina in their ACC opener Friday at 3 p.m. Fairfield will visit Trager Stadium for a 2 p.m. matchup on Sunday.
UP LAST
Louisville extended its season-opening win streak with a pair off victories in the ACC/Ivy League Crossover last weekend.
Louisville 4 Penn 1
•Katie Schneider scored twice and Aimee Plumb and Julie Kouijzer added goals while Sasha Elliott collected seven stops and Julie Kouijzer registered a defensive save to help the Cardinals win the opening game of the ACC/Ivy League Crossover.
Louisville 2 – No. 13 Princeton 1
• Schneider scored and assisted on Mattie Tabor’s goal as the Cardinals built a 2-0 lead and Elliott collected three saves to stave off a fourth-quarter Tiger surge.
| Lori Korte Harmon |