# 2023 Louisville Cardinals women's soccer team

The 2023 Louisville Cardinals women's soccer team represented University of Louisville during the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. The Cardinals were led by head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes, in her twenty-fourth season. They played home games at Lynn Stadium. This was the team's 39th season playing organized women's college soccer and their 10th playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Cardinals had a rocky start to their non-conference season, with their first win not coming until September 3. That would be their only win during non-conference play and they finished with a 1–4–3 record. They only played one other power 5 school, Indiana, and the Cardinals lost 2–0. They began ACC play with a tie against Virginia who was ranked 20th at the time, and a win over Pittsburgh. However, that momentum did not continue as they lost their next three games. They mustered two more wins during conference play, against Syracuse and 25th ranked Duke to end the 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.

## Previous season

The Cardinals finished the season 6–8–2 overall and 3–7–0 in ACC play to finish in tenth place. The team did not qualify for the ACC Tournament and were not invited to the NCAA Tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Olivia Pratapas | 0 | GK | 5'9" | Sophomore | Clemmons, North Carolina | Transferred to NC State |
| Sarah Hernandez | 2 | DF | 5'4" | Graduate Student | Moorpark, California | Graduated |
| Patricia Ward | 3 | FW | 5'6" | Graduate Student | Newport News, Virginia | Graduated |
| Riley Mullady | 6 | MF | 5'5" | Junior | Dublin, Ohio | Transferred to NYU |
| Lilly Yordy | 9 | DF | 5'4" | Junior | Hamilton, Ohio | Transferred to Northern Kentucky |
| Corinne Dente | 12 | FW | 5'5" | Senior | Stamford, Connecticut | Graduated |
| Riley Goss | 17 | MF | 5'7" | Freshman | Suffolk, Virginia | Transferred to James Madison |
| Anouk Denton | 18 | DF | 5'4" | Sophomore | St. Albans, England | Signed professional contract with West Ham |
| Maisie Whitsett | 19 | MF/FW | 5'9" | Senior | San Diego, California | Graduated |
| Evelyn Pazienza | 29 | FW/MF | 5'7" | Freshman | Wilton, Connecticut | Transferred to North Dakota |

### Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Malene Nielsen | 0 | GK | 5'11" | Junior | Juelsminde, Denmark | Fairleigh Dickinson |
| Lucy Roberts | 6 | DF | 5'10" | Graduate Student | Cheshire, England | South Florida |
| Amber Jackson | 7 | FW | 5'6" | Senior | Susanville, California | Oregon State |
| Maya Anand | 17 | FW | 5'4" | Graduate Student | Leesburg, Virginia | Binghamton |

### Recruiting class

Source:
| Name | Hometown | Club | TDS Rating |
| Molly Cochran MF | Madeira, Ohio | Ohio Elite SA | |
| Fiona Gaißer FW | Munich, Germany | Bayern Munich II | N/A |
| Betsy Huckaby MF | Crestwood, Kentucky | Racing Louisville Academy | N/A |
| Emma Sanchez DF | Camas, Washington | Northwest Elite | |
| Viktoria Wik MF | Roskilde, Denmark | HB Køge | N/A |

## Squad
### Roster

    As of November 21, 2023
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 |
| 0 | GK | DEN | Malene Nielsen |
| 1 | GK | CAN | Alyssa Zalac |
| 2 | MF | USA | Betsy Huckaby |
| 3 | FW | USA | Mackenzie Geigle |
| 4 | FW | USA | Emma Hiscock |
| 5 | FW | USA | Ravin Alexander |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Lucy Roberts |
| 7 | FW | USA | Amber Jackson |
| 8 | MF | USA | Maya Maxwell |
| 9 | MF | USA | Molly Cochran |
| 10 | DF | USA | Autumn Weeks |
| 11 | MF | USA | Addie Chester |
| 13 | MF | USA | Ava Nielson |
| 14 | MF | USA | Lizzie Sexton |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | MF | USA | Hayley Howard |
| 18 | MF | DEN | Wiktoria Wik |
| 19 | FW | GER | Fiona Gaißer |
| 20 | FW | USA | Savina Zamborini |
| 21 | DF | USA | Sophia Zinn |
| 22 | DF | USA | Karsyn Cherry |
| 23 | MF | USA | Morgan Bentley |
| 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 |
| 32 | DF | USA | Madison Ellsworth |

### Team management

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

## Schedule

Source:
| Date Time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (Attendance) City, State |
| Exhibition ||||||
| August 6* 2:00 p.m. | at Miami (OH) | None Reported | – | Bobby Kramig Field Oxford, OH |
| Non-Conference Regular Season ||||||
| August 17* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | Indiana State | T 0–0 | 0–0–1 | Lynn Stadium (437) Louisville, KY |
| August 20* 7:30 p.m., FloFC | at Xavier | L 0–2 | 0–1–1 | Corcoran Field (1,682) Cincinnati, OH |
| August 24* 7:00 p.m., FloFC | at Dayton | L 1–2 | 0–2–1 | Baujan Field (724) Dayton, OH |
| August 27* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | Northern Kentucky | T 0–0 | 0–2–2 | Lynn Stadium (362) Louisville, KY |
| August 31* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | Illinois | L 1–2 | 0–3–2 | Lynn Stadium (372) Louisville, KY |
| September 3* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | Central Michigan | W 3–0 | 1–3–2 | Lynn Stadium (395) Louisville, KY |
| September 7* 7:00 p.m., BTN+ | at Indiana | L 0–2 | 1–4–2 | Bill Armstrong Stadium (413) Bloomington, IN |
| September 10* 5:30 p.m., ACCNX | Wyoming | T 2–2 | 1–4–3 | Lynn Stadium (213) Louisville, KY |
| ACC Regular Season ||||||
| September 16 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 20 Virginia | T 1–1 | 1–4–4 (0–0–1) | Lynn Stadium (221) Louisville, KY |
| September 21 8:00 p.m., ACCN | Pittsburgh | W 3–2 | 2–4–4 (1–0–1) | Lynn Stadium (279) Louisville, KY |
| September 24 12:00 p.m., ACCNX | at Miami (FL) | L 0–1 | 2–5–4 (1–1–1) | Cobb Stadium (214) Coral Gables, FL |
| September 30 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | at No. 10 Notre Dame | L 0–3 | 2–6–4 (1–2–1) | Alumni Stadium (450) Notre Dame, IN |
| October 5 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 2 Florida State | L 0–2 | 2–7–4 (1–3–1) | Lynn Stadium (198) Louisville, KY |
| October 8 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | Syracuse | W 2–1 | 3–7–4 (2–3–1) | Lynn Stadium (227) Louisville, KY |
| October 14 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | at Boston College | T 1–1 | 3–7–5 (2–3–2) | Newton Campus Soccer Field (471) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| October 19 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | at No. 8 Clemson | L 0–3 | 3–8–5 (2–4–2) | Riggs Field (362) Clemson, SC |
| October 22 12:30 p.m., ACCNX | at Wake Forest | L 0–1 | 3–9–5 (2–5–2) | Spry Stadium (620) Winston-Salem, NC |
| October 26 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 25т Duke | W 1–0 | 4–9–5 (3–5–2) | Lynn Stadium (405) Louisville, KY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date | Ref. |
| Emma Hiscock | ACC Offensive Player of the Week | October 31 | |
| Lucy Roberts | All-ACC Third Team | November 1 | |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: — = Not ranked :
| | 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 | Final |
| United Soccer | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — |
| TopDrawer Soccer | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |