FH ACC Tournament -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey ACC Tournament Begins

6-seed and 8th-ranked Louisville field hockey begins their ACC Tournament against 3-seed and 5th-ranked Virginia today. The Cards come into the tournament riding a three-game losing streak that knocked them down to 12-6 on the year and a 1-5 conference mark.

The Cavaliers have a similar overall record at 11-6, but their 3-3 conference record sits a bit higher. The Big Ten was unkind for Virginia, going 3-0 against one of the ACC's top teams. Virginia's other three losses came in conference play to North Carolina, Boston College, and Wake Forest.

The Cards and Cavaliers met in the regular season in Charlottesville to close out September. A pair of first quarter goals powered Virginia to a 2-0 win on their home turf. Daniela Mendez-Trendler, Virginia's second leading scorer, logged both goals in the match.

Laura Janssen has been the top scorer for Virginia, scoring 10 of their 35 goals. Virginia has only allowed 23 goals this season.

In goal, Virginia has split time between Tyler Kennedy (seven appearances) and Jet Trimborn (12 appearances). Kennedy has 26 saves against 11 goals allowed while Trimborn has 26 saves to 12 goals allowed.

Cards goalkeep Sasha Elliott is 14th in the country with 92 saves. Her .800 save percentage ranks fourth while her 23 goals allowed ranks 20th. As a team, Louisville ranks 48th in goals per game at 1.83. Their 33 total goals ranks 44th.

For me, I see this one as a must-win to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Louisville's rpi and number of ranked wins is great, but six losses makes it tough to make an 18-team tournament. The loss to Cornell has been the killer so far. The Cards could still potentially receive an at-large bid with a loss today, but a win or two- or winning the ACC Tournament- just helps their case.

Louisville does have three All-ACC members on their team helping lead the way. Sasha Elliott, Julie Kouijzer, and Aimee Plumb each received the honors, which were announced yesterday. The first two were named to the All-ACC First Team while the latter received All-ACC Second Team honors.

All three, listed as seniors or grad students on the roster were recognized on Senior Day alongside four others. We did hear word of several of those seven with interest in returning next season pending job opportunities, scholarship availability, etc. Elliott is the only one that has used the COVID-19 year, leaving the rest all with at least one year of eligibility.

You can catch the match on ACC Network at 6:00 p.m. The entirety of the ACC Tournament will be aired on ACC Network this year. Duke is the host school.

WBB Luncheon Today

(Louie will be there also)

Cardinals women's basketball fans will gather at the Galt House today for the WBB Tip-Off Luncheon. Always a fun and gala affair, you can expect plenty of video, getting to know the team a little better and Jeff Walz's "State of the Cardinals" address. 

Sonja and Paulie will attend and I'm sure he'll have a report on it in tomorrow's column

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared