Breaking News: Minnie and the Stick Girls face a Saturday test -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE - News Paper

#12 LOUISVILLE TRAVELS TO #5 UNC SATURDAY

The #12 UofL Field Hockey team has done a lot of right things this season. At 10-4 and 3-1 in the ACC on the season, they are currently on a six-game win streak. Last weekend, they stormed through New England and took convincing wins over Boston College (4-1) and New Hampshire (5-2). Memories of the three game losing streak earlier this year are fading quite nicely into the past. As head coach Justine Sowry likes to say...paraphrasing former UofL football coach John L. Smith, they've torn off the rear view mirror and concentrated on what's ahead. That losing streak came against some pretty formidable competition, in the Cards defense, at #2 Duke, #9 Northwestern and #16 Maryland. 

The Cards are a perfect 6-0 at home, in Trager Stadium. They have all-American goalkeep Ayeshia McFerran back again between the pipes. Making sure she stays out of trouble are defenders senior Abby Grimes, junior Taylor Stone, sophomore Carter Ayers and freshman Anne Marie Habelow. Delaware, St. Louis, Massachusetts, and Virginia represented there, if you're keeping geological track. They've been very stingy on goals allowed...just a 1.5 goals per game average for the 14 Cardinal opponents this year. 

And, then, there is the offense. Averaging 2.5 goals a game...nine different Cardinals are responsible for scoring 34 goals this year. The leader is Minout "Minnie" Mink, who has almost 1/4th of the squads net finders with eight goals. 

Minnie's a scorer. She told Coach Sowry that when she arrived on campus back in the summer of 2016. Coach Sowry uses the same phrase when she's asked about the Haaksbergen, The Netherlands sophomore forward. And that's what she's done at Louisville for the last two years. She led the Cards in scoring last season with 15 goals. She had a goal in each game of the Cards weekend trip and she's scored in the last four Cardinal contests. 

Yet, she doesn't start. Coach Sowry was vague when asked about that. We've seen it before in other sports with other players. A chance for visualization from the sidelines, to pick up the flow of the action and get the overall picture before entering the battle...maybe. It seemed to work for UofL WBB a few years back when Gwen Rucker would start the game so that Keisha Hines could get a look at what lay ahead for her in the pivot. 

Minnie holds the school record for freshman goals. She was named to the 2016 All-West First Team (yes, they have Louisville in the Western region. Because of all those tumbleweeds blowing down Floyd Street and the cactus popping up everywhere, I suppose.) She was also named to the All-ACC team. In life back in The Netherlands, she played for the Dutch U-18 National team and she lists winning the European championship with them and scoring the decisive goal in the championship game as a couple of her favorite personal sports moments. (I'm pretty sure her interviews with Cardinal Couple came in third...) 

She'll lead the Stick Girls into action this Saturday against the TarHeels down in Chapel Hill, NC. Louisville runs into a 11-2 TarHeel squad that saw their junior back Ashley Hoffman named National Defensive Player of the Week after a shutout 3-0 win over #3 Virginia last week. Hoffman also leads the TarHeels in goals scored...so Louisville would be well-advised to keep a watchful eye on her. 

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FUN FACT QUIZ ON LOUISVILLE FIELD HOCKEY (Answers below) 

No cheating! 

1) How many different nations are represented on the Field Hockey Squad? 

A) 8  B) 6  C) 12  D) 9 

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2) How many schools play Field Hockey in the ACC? 

A) 5  B) 7  C)  9 D) 11

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3) Which of these players for Louisville FH is actually from Louisville

A) Annie Mulford  B) Bethany Russ  C) Carter Ayers  D) Katie Walsh 

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4) How many years in a row has Louisville FH made the NCAA Tournament? 

A) 10  B) 8  C) 6 D) 3 

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5) In which of these Conferences did Louisville NOT participate in? 

A) MAC  B) Big East  C) KWIC  D) AAC


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ANSWERS

1) 8. US, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia. N Ireland

2) 7. UofL, Duke, UNC, Va., B.C., Wake Forest, Syracuse

3) D. Katie Walsh played for Louisville Ballard. 

4) D. The Cards have made three straight NCAA appearances

5) D.  The AAC does not offer a Field Hockey league. 


So, how did you do? 

-- 5 correct. You're ready to grab a clipboard and join Coach Sowry on the pitch! 

-- 4 correct. Not bad. Join me in the press box next home game

--3 correct. Average. We'll let you sit in the top bleachers

--2 correct. You need to pick your game up. Report for practice 8 a.m. Friday

--1 correct. Really?  OK, you're assigned to chasing errant shots during practice. 

--0 correct. We're lining you up in front of one of the water cannons at halftime.



paulie
xxxxx 









from Cardinal Couple http://ift.tt/2zhQKy2
Breaking News: Minnie and the Stick Girls face a Saturday test -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE - News Paper