Field Hockey needs to win to ensure ACC Tournament Berth -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 THREE GAMES BEFORE ACC FH TOURNAMENT AT TRAGER

The good news is...that the ACC Field Hockey Tournament will be held at the Cards Field Hockey (Trager Stadium) facility this year. 

The worrisome news is... that eight of the nine teams in the ACC participate in it and Louisville is clinging to eight place at 1-4 in conference play. Even there, they are still in, but can't risk losing anymore and letting ninth place Boston College catch up with them. BC is 0-6 and has Syracuse on 10/24 and Louisville on 10/26 left on the schedule.  

That regular season ending match against the Cards...in Newton, Massachusetts could very well decide which school gets left out of the ACC Tournament -- since the ACC only has 9 schools that participate in Field Hockey. 

Not that eighth place is a bonus, because you'll end up facing (as of now) #1...Wake Forest...which is now 6-0 in conference and has Duke , App State and Virginia left. The two conference games are away games for Wake Forest. 

Trager is a showcase, for sure, for Field Hockey and got new turf in 2022 and a new video board. 

ACC FIELD HOCKEY STANDINGS: (In conference)

Wake Forest         6-0                                                                                                                  UNC                     6-1                                                                                                                    Virginia                 5-1                                                                                                                    Duke                     4-2                                                                                                                    Syracuse              2-4                                                                                                                    California              2-5                                                                                                                    Stanford               2-5                                                                                                                    Louisville              1-4                                                                                                                    Boston College    0-6

The Cards have matches left in hosting Virginia, at Boston College and hosting Syracuse.

If the Cards could manage two win of these final three , it's possible they could climb out of eight place and knocking off Syracuse and B.C. isn't far fetched at all. They haven't won an ACC game on the road yet, though...so a bit of lady luck will need to be on their side at B.C. 

We all knew that ACC Field Hockey wasn't going to be a walk in the park...ever since the Cards got in back in 2014...but they were able to amass winning records from 2014 through 2023. They also made NCAA Tournament appearances in nine of those 10 years. 

So...what happened in 2024 and this year? There isn't really one key thing you can point at and determine it as the cause for the drop-off in the W-L record...yes, Big 10 Field Hockey got better and Harvard, Princeton and Liberty all popped into the top 10 last year. This trends with the "hot" eight states for Field Hockey recruiting: (in alphabetical order) Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Someone will get upset that I left their state out...that's life I suppose.

A look at the Louisville roster shows 11 of their 23 players from those eight states. Our Commonwealth of Kentucky has three players on the 2025 roster (from Christian Academy, Sacred Heart and Assumption) and foreign players number five. 

Just two years ago, the UofL roster had 11 foreign players and only two from Kentucky (Manual and Assumption). 

UNC, who is currently #1 in the polls...has three foreign players (all from the Netherlands) and three players from North Carolina...but five players from New Jersey. Their head coach (Erin Matson) is from Pennsylvania and she has three Pennsylvanians on her squad. she also played at UNC and is the most decorated player in UNC Field Hockey history. 

So, how do the Cards get as good as a UNC or Wake Forest?

One idea would be to play better against ranked teams. Last year they were 0-9 against ranked opponents and had a 6-11 record overall. This year they are 7-7 so far and wins have come against Mich. St, Ohio University, Indiana, Ohio St., St. Joseph, Bellarmine and California...but only IU and OSU are in the top 20 (20th and 18th in the latest poll) . 

The "get better players and win more games" phrase is largely attributed to Pat Riley and holds forth for the Cards FH squad as well. You have the facility, you are in a top flight league and have a solid coaching staff. Maybe it's time to start winning the recruiting battles against the other ACC schools. 

Time will tell

paulie