# 2024 Louisville Cardinals women's soccer team

The 2024 Louisville Cardinals women's soccer team represented University of Louisville during the 2024 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. The Cardinals were led by head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes, in her twenty-fifth season. They played home games at Lynn Stadium. This was the team's 40th season playing organized women's college soccer and their 11th playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Cardinals started the season by winning their first two games before drawing with New Hampshire. They won three of their next four non-conference games, with the other game being a draw against Cincinnati, their only Power 4 opponent of the non-conference season. They ended their non-conference slate, with a loss to Dayton to finish that portion of the season 5–1–2. They began the ACC season with two straight losses, to Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech. They then defeated NC State for their first ACC win of the season. The Cardinal's next five games would all be against ranked opponents, and they would go 1–3–1 over that stretch. They lost to number 3 North Carolina, number 2 Duke, and number 6 Stanford. They earned a 0–0 draw with number thirteen Notre Dame and defeated number 25 California. They finished the season with two 0–0 draws to finish their ACC slate 2–5–3.
The Cardinals finished the season 7–6–5 overall and 2–5–3 in ACC play to finish in twelfth place. The team did not qualify for the ACC Tournament and were not invited to the NCAA Tournament. Their seven wins were an improvement on the previous year, but they had one fewer ACC win. This was the fifth straight year they did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

## Previous season

The Cardinals finished the season 4–9–5 overall and 3–5–2 in ACC play to finish in ninth place. The team did not qualify for the ACC Tournament and were not invited to the NCAA Tournament. Their four overall wins, were the lowest for the team since 2001. Their three conference wins matched their total in the last two years.

## Offseason
### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Malene Nielsen | 0 | GK | 5'11" | Junior | Juelsminde, Denmark | Transferred to St. John's |
| Alyssa Zalac | 1 | GK | 5'9" | Sophomore | Montreal, Canada | Transferred to Creighton |
| Emma Hiscock | 4 | FW | 5'4" | Senior | Fenton, Michigan | Graduated |
| Ravin Alexander | 5 | FW | 5'3" | Graduate Student | Cincinnati, Ohio | Graduated |
| Lucy Roberts | 6 | DF | 5'10" | Graduate Student | Crewe, England | Graduated |
| Autumn Weeks | 10 | DF | 5'7" | Graduate Student | East Peoria, Illinois | Graduated |
| Addie Chester | 11 | MF | 5'7" | Sophomore | Muncie, Indiana | Transferred to Ball State |
| Hayley Howard | 15 | MF | 5'9" | Junior | Brentwood, Tennessee | Transferred to Tennessee |
| Fiona Gaißer | 19 | FW | 5'5" | Freshman | Munich, Germany | Signed professional contract with FC Carl Zeiss Jena |
| Savina Zamborini | 20 | MF | 5'7" | Senior | Louisville, Kentucky | Graduated |
| Morgan Bentley | 23 | MF | 5'4" | Senior | Atlanta, Georgia | Graduated |
| Maddy Ellsworth | 32 | DF | 5'7" | Senior | Hillsboro, Oregon | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Kailey Kimball | 1 | GK | 6'2" | Junior | Danville, California | Purdue |
| Jolie St. Louis | 4 | FW | 5'9" | Senior | Atlanta, Georgia | UAB |
| Berkley Patterson | 15 | MF | 5'6" | Sophomore | Austin, Texas | Texas Tech |
| Gianna Angelillo | 21 | MF | 5'6" | Sophomore | Glastonbury, Connecticut | Miami (FL) |
| Ella Kane | 23 | FW | 5'5" | Sophomore | Macomb, Michigan | Kentucky |

### Recruiting class

Source:
| Name | Hometown | Club | TDS Rating |
| Lauryn Contini MF | New Philadelphia, Ohio | Cleveland Force SC | |
| Piper Davidson FW | Wenatchee, Washington | Crossfire Premier FC | |
| Fina Davy FW | Delaware, Ohio | Ohio Premier | N/A |
| Ag Gibson MF | Louisville, Kentucky | Racing Louisville FC Academy | |
| Brooklyn Lee DF | Tacoma, Washington | Pacific NW | |
| Grace Maddox FW | Statham, Georgia | GSA | |
| Avery Oergel DF | Fulton, Maryland | Maryland United FC | |
| Amelia Swinarski MF | Madison, Ohio | Internationals SC, Ohio | |

## Squad
### Roster

    As of December 30, 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | USA | Kailey Kimball |
| 2 | MF | USA | Betsy Huckaby |
| 3 | FW | USA | Mackenzie Geigle |
| 4 | FW | USA | Jolie St. Louis |
| 5 | FW | USA | Grace Maddox |
| 6 | FW | USA | Piper Davidson |
| 7 | FW | USA | Amber Jackson |
| 8 | MF | USA | Maya Maxwell |
| 9 | MF | USA | Molly Cochran |
| 10 | MF | USA | Lauryn Contini |
| 11 | MF | USA | Amelia Swinarski |
| 12 | DF | USA | Avery Oergel |
| 13 | MF | USA | Ava Nielson |
| 14 | MF | USA | Lizzie Sexton |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | MF | USA | Berkley Patterson |
| 17 | DF | USA | Brooklyn Lee |
| 18 | MF | DEN | Wiktoria Wik |
| 20 | FW | USA | Fina Davy |
| 21 | MF | USA | Gianna Angelillo |
| 22 | DF | USA | Karsyn Cherry |
| 23 | FW | USA | Ella Kane |
| 24 | MF | USA | AG Gibson |
| 25 | DF | USA | Hadley Snyder |
| 26 | MF | USA | Emma Kate Schroll |
| 27 | FW | USA | Emersen Jennings |
| 28 | MF | USA | Brooke Dardano |
| 30 | GK | USA | Erynn Floyd |

### Team management

| Position | Staff |
| Karen Ferguson-Dayes | Head Coach |
| Hunter Norton | Associate Head Coach |
| Olivia Mills | Assistant Coach |
| Jing Hughley | Director of Operations |
| Declan Doherty | Performance Analyst |
Source:

## Schedule

Source:
| Date Time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (Attendance) City, State |
| Exhibition ||||||
| August 8* 4:00 p.m. | at Eastern Kentucky | None Reported | – | EKU Soccer Field Richmond, KY |
| Non-Conference Regular Season ||||||
| August 15* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | Bellarmine | W 7–0 | 1–0–0 | Lynn Stadium (425) Louisville, KY |
| August 18* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | UAB | W 3–1 | 2–0–0 | Lynn Stadium (286) Louisville, KY |
| August 22* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | New Hampshire | T 1–1 | 2–0–1 | Lynn Stadium (300) Louisville, KY |
| August 25* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Northern Kentucky | W 2–1 | 3–0–1 | NKU Soccer Stadium (473) Highland Heights, KY |
| August 29* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Cincinnati | T 1–1 | 3–0–2 | Gettler Stadium (803) Cincinnati, OH |
| September 1* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | Evansville | W 3–0 | 4–0–2 | Lynn Stadium (327) Louisville, KY |
| September 5* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | UT Martin | W 2–0 | 5–0–2 | Lynn Stadium (575) Louisville, KY |
| September 8* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | Dayton | L 1–0 | 5–1–2 | Lynn Stadium (203) Louisville, KY |
| ACC Regular Season ||||||
| September 14 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | at Pittsburgh | L 1–3 | 5–2–2 (0–1–0) | Ambrose Urbanic Field (888) Pittsburgh, PA |
| September 26 7:00 p.m., ACCN | at Virginia Tech | L 1–5 | 5–3–2 (0–2–0) | Thompson Field (273) Blacksburg, VA |
| September 29 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | NC State | W 1–0 | 6–3–2 (1–2–0) | Lynn Stadium (250) Louisville, KY |
| October 3 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | at No. 3 North Carolina | L 0–5 | 6–4–2 (1–3–0) | Dorrance Field (2,012) Chapel Hill, NC |
| October 6 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | at No. 2 Duke | L 1–3 | 6–5–2 (1–4–0) | Koskinen Stadium (690) Durham, NC |
| October 12 5:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 13 Notre Dame | T 0–0 | 6–5–3 (1–4–1) | Lynn Stadium (375) Louisville, KY |
| October 17 7:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 6 Stanford | L 0–1 | 6–6–3 (1–5–1) | Lynn Stadium (325) Louisville, KY |
| October 20 12:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 25 California | W 2–1 | 7–6–3 (2–5–1) | Lynn Stadium (450) Louisville, KY |
| October 24 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | Boston College | T 0–0 | 7–6–4 (2–5–2) | Lynn Stadium (375) Louisville, KY |
| October 31 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | at Clemson | T 0–0 | 7–6–5 (2–5–3) | Riggs Field (1,174) Clemson, SC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date | Ref. |
| Erynn Floyd | ACC Defensive Player of the Week – Week 9 | October 15, 2024 | |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| United Soccer | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — |
| TopDrawer Soccer | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |