Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Field Hockey Gears Up For 2024 Season -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS PICKED TO FINISH FOURTH IN ACC PRESEASON FIELD HOCKEY POLL



We've gotten two of the fall sports we traditonally cover here at Cardinal Couple underway---with Women's Soccer and Volleyball having taken to their courts and fields for competition -- now let's take a look at another fall sport we devote a lot of coverage to...Field Hockey. The "Stick Girls" get their 2024 campaign started Friday this week, when they take on Bellarmine in an exhibiton at Trager Field. 

Head coach Justine Sowry begins her 14th season as the Field Hockey skipper, and, as she would say...the squad is ready to "give it a go" against their opponents in the finest D1 league in college Field Hockey...the ACC. 



The Cards were picked to finish 4th in the ACC in a coaches' preseason poll... Virginia narrowly edged  out last year's national champions UNC for first place in voting. Duke was selected to finish third and Louisville was tied for fourth with Syracuse. 

At the Fall Sports Preview,  Sowry spoke of her team. You can here the remarks at this link

Louisville gets plenty of talent back and some impressive freshmen to join the flock. Aimee Plumb was named to the 2024 All-ACC First Team. It's her second straight year for the honor. Last year, she led the Cards with five goals and eight assists. The fifth-year midfielder from Canterbury, Kent (Eng) also has her sister...sophomore Chloe on the squad. Also returnng are Rylie Wollerton, Izzy Bianco, Mia Duchars, Tyler Everslage (Assumption HS) and Caroline Pusey. The Cards are bringing in a veteran goalkeeper in fifth-year transfer from James Madison Brandelynn Heinbaugh. Sophomore goalie Em Young also returns for the Cards. 


The squad also has nine iincoming freshmen. Of particular interest is Megan Mauzy (Christian Academy) a mid-fielder/back who was a part of the 2023 Kentucky Field Hockey champions. Mauzy was named 2023 Kentucky Student Athlete of the Year. If the name sounds familiar, her dad Mike played football at UofL from 1985-89. 

The 2023 Louiville Field Hockey squad went 15-7 and 3-3 in ACC play. They advanced to the second round of the ACC Tournament, where they lost to #3 ranked Duke, and also went to the NCAA Tournament...their fifth consecutive apperance there...where they defeated #8 Iowa but fell in the second round to Northwestern. 


Sowry has 180 wins in 13 seasons at Louisville...she also was head coach at UMass and was a prevous assistant coach at Louisville. Pam Bustin, Duke head Ffeld Hockey coach who was head coach before Sowry, says of Sowry: 
“Justine is an elite competitor and a great player’s coach. She and her outstanding staff will lead the Cards to the next level"

We wish "the Flock" the best of luck this season and a deep run in both conference and NCAA Tournaments. Admission is free to games at Trager and we have the schedule listed on the right side side of the website. 


paulie




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