Field Hockey Unbeaten at 4-0 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Field Hockey unbeaten going into difficult stretch

They have stepped on the field four times this season for contests and, so far, have walked off with four wins. Miami (OH), Indiana, St. Louis and Michigan St. Although only one (Miami) was ranked in the top 20, the wins were still quality ones and showed that Justine Sowry's squad is equally adapt at road wins and wins at Trager. 

The road is considerably tougher, though...in the next couple of contests. A trip to Evanston, IL to face Northwestern on Friday Sept 11th will put the Cards up against the #1 team in the NCAA DI Coaches Poll. And, two days later, the Cards will face #2 in the nation Iowa on the Northwestern Field. Both opponents are 4-0 on the season. 

Louisville is currently ranked #14 in the DI poll.  That...in itself... is a bit puzzling since there are eight schools ahead of them in the latest D poll who have at least one loss already and two of them (UNC and Duke) have two losses. Parity? Nope, such coaches voting without researching. 

Lauren Masters

The Cards have put up 11 goals in their four wins and allowed just two. Four Cardinals are tied for the scoring lead with two goals each...Gigi Edwards, Annabel Sep, Tyler Everslage and Lauren Masters.

The goalkeeping effort of  Emily Young needs to be recognized as well. She has had 23 stops in four games. Her backup, Katie Hume has one stop in just 15 minutes of acton this season. 

We hope the Cards can pull off a couple of upsets in the next two contests. Playing #1 and #2 in the nation back to back with just one day of rest in between is certainly a task I doubt any DI coach would be ecstasic about...but with the sometimes eyebrow-raising scheduling assignments being put out there these days, I suppose you just tell your squad to play the best they can and never give up the fight. 

paulie