Soccer Lands 3 on All-ACC Teams -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cherry, Swinarski, and Jennings Honored

Louisville women's soccer tied a program-best for players on All-ACC teams in a single season with three this year. Karsyn Cherry, Amelia Swinarski, and Emersen Jennings were among the players honored by the ACC for the 2025 regular season. Cherry and Swinarski were named to the second team, while Jennings was named to the third team. Louisville had no players appear on the preseason All-ACC team and were picked to finish 14th in the conference, so the Cards definitely exceeded expectations.

Karsyn Cherry finished her senior year as part of a defense that recorded 12 overall shutouts and went undefeated at home. The Cards gave up 0.63 goals per game overall, but yielded just 0.37 goals per game in conference. Of their seven goals allowed in conference play, Louisville yielded just one at home, which came in a 1-1 draw against then #3 Virginia. Though she didn't tally a point in conference play, Cherry also had three goals and three assists during the season. Cherry finished ahead of two FSU defenders in the voting to land on the second team. 

Amelia Swinarski did much of her work in the non-conference, but the super sophomore had a stellar second season. She finished with nine goals and ten assists, ranking her fourth all-time in UofL history for single season assists. Despite a much lower output in conference play, Swinarski did still co-lead the team in goals with three and had an assist. Part of her reduced production was a significant focus on her by ACC opponents. Swinarski had just ten total shots in conference play, placing four of them on target and converting three. 

The other co-leader...along with Swinarski's... in conference goals was Emersen Jennings. Jennings scored a career-best five goals this season, with three of those in conference. She also had four assists in non-conference play. Jennings scored the game-winning goals against Virginia Tech, Miami, and SMU. Jennings exceeded her previous career high in minutes by roughly 40% and played in all 19 games, while starting a career-high 14 games. It was fantastic to see her make the most of her opportunities in an expanded role. 

One player I feel may have been a bit snubbed was Erynn Floyd, though she may have been a victim of the team's stellar defensive play. She finished with only 26 saves in conference play. Floyd was beaten to the third team by Valentina Amaral of Wake Forest who had 43 ACC saves. However, Floyd gave up half the number of goals as Amaral and had a higher save percentage (.788 to .754). Nevertheless, I won't forget how well Floyd played this year, keeping Louisville in many of their games and making the ACC tournament possible. 

Louisville finished the season as the 6th-ranked team in the conference, making their first conference tournament since 2020. They were knocked out by Duke in a tight 1-0 match on Sunday, but they are a virtual lock for the NCAA tournament and are well-positioned to host a first round game, if not more. The ACC tournament semifinals will be played today, with #2 Notre Dame vs #3 Duke and #1 Stanford vs #5 Virginia. The final will be on Sunday at noon. Louisville will learn their NCAA fate during the tournament selection show on Tuesday November 11th. 

ACC Field Hockey Championship Update

Due to Tuesday's tragedy, play was suspended in the ACC Championship at Trager Stadium. As a result, the tournament schedule was adjusted. The quarterfinal games were completed Wednesday, and the semifinals were moved to today rather than the teams having a break between the semifinals and final match. The final will be played on Friday at 3PM. Syracuse spoiled the top-4 party by upsetting(?) Wake Forest 3-1, so the 6th-seeded Orange will face #2 Virginia at 1:30 today. That match will be preceded by #1 UNC vs #4 Duke at 11am. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case