# 2021 Louisville Cardinals women's soccer team

The 2021 Louisville Cardinals women's soccer team represented University of Louisville during the 2021 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. The Cardinals were led by head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes, in her twenty-second season. They played home games at Lynn Stadium. This was the team's 37th season playing organized women's college soccer and their 8th playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Cardinals finished the season 7–7–2 overall and 3–6–1 in ACC play to finish in eleventh place. The team did not qualify for the ACC Tournament and were not invited to the NCAA Tournament.

## Previous season

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACC played a reduced schedule in 2020 and the NCAA Tournament was postponed to 2021. The ACC did not play a spring league schedule, but did allow teams to play non-conference games that would count toward their 2020 record in the lead up to the NCAA Tournament.
The Cardinals finished the fall season 4–5–0, 4–4–0 in ACC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. They were awarded the sixth seed in the ACC Tournament based on tiebreakers. In the tournament they lost to Virginia in the Quarterfinals. The Cardinals finished the spring season 1–2–0 and were not invited to the NCAA Tournament.

## Squad
### Roster

    As of January 6, 2022
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 | Gabby Kouzelos |
| 2 | MF | USA | Sarah Hernandez |
| 4 | FW | USA | Emma Hiscock |
| 5 | FW | USA | Ravin Alexander |
| 6 | MF | USA | Riley Mullady |
| 7 | MF | USA | Abigail Baldridge |
| 8 | DF | USA | Caitlin Elam |
| 9 | DF | USA | Lilly Yordy |
| 11 | MF | USA | Taylor Kerwin |
| 12 | FW | USA | Corinne Dente |
| 14 | MF | USA | Mikayla Hampton |
| 15 | MF | USA | Hayley Howard |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | FW | USA | Julia Simon |
| 17 | MF | USA | Kiana Klein |
| 18 | DF | ENG | Anouk Denton |
| 19 | MF | USA | Maisie Whitsett |
| 20 | FW | USA | Savina Zamborini |
| 21 | DF | USA | Sophia Zinn |
| 23 | MF | USA | Morgan Bentley |
| 24 | MF | USA | Delaney Snyder |
| 26 | MF | USA | Cassie Amshoff |
| 28 | MF | USA | Brooke Dardano |
| 29 | MF | USA | Ava Nielson |
| 30 | GK | USA | Olivia Pratapas |

### Team management

| Position | Staff |
| Karen Ferguson-Dayes | Head Coach |
| Nick Stirrett | Assistant Coach |
| Hunter Norton | 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 14* 7:30 p.m. | Ball State | W 2–0 | – | Lynn Stadium Louisville, KY |
| Non-Conference Regular Season ||||||
| August 19* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | Western Michigan | W 6–2 | 1–0–0 | Lynn Stadium (503) Louisville, KY |
| August 27* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | James Madison | W 4–3 | 2–0–0 | Lynn Stadium (357) Louisville, KY |
| August 29* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | Northern Kentucky | W 3–0 | 3–0–0 | Lynn Stadium (536) Louisville, KY |
| September 2* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | at Saint Louis | W 1–0 | 4–0–0 | Hermann Stadium (1,552) St. Louis, MO |
| September 5* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | Western Kentucky | L 0–1 | 4–1–0 | Lynn Stadium (623) Louisville, KY |
| September 10* 5:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 16 Michigan | T 1–1 $^{2OT}$ | 4–1–1 | Lynn Stadium (600) Louisville, KY |
| ACC Regular Season ||||||
| September 17 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | at Miami (FL) | W 3–2 $^{2OT}$ | 5–1–1 (1–0–0) | Cobb Stadium (154) Coral Gables, FL |
| September 23 6:00 p.m., ACCN | at Syracuse | W 2–1 | 6–1–1 (2–0–0) | SU Soccer Stadium (23) Syracuse, NY |
| September 26 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 1 Florida State | L 0–3 | 6–2–1 (2–1–0) | Lynn Stadium (376) Louisville, KY |
| October 2 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | Wake Forest | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 7–2–1 (3–1–0) | Lynn Stadium (397) Louisville, KY |
| October 7 8:00 p.m., ACCRSN | at No. 24 Notre Dame | L 0–3 | 7–3–1 (3–2–0) | Alumni Stadium (289) Notre Dame, IN |
| October 10 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | NC State | L 1–2 | 7–4–1 (3–3–0) | Lynn Stadium (483) Louisville, KY |
| October 15 4:00 p.m., ACCNX | Boston College | L 1–2 | 7–5–1 (3–4–0) | Lynn Stadium (385) Louisville, KY |
| October 21 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | at No. 2 Virginia | L 1–4 | 7–6–1 (3–5–0) | Klöckner Stadium (1,564) Charlottesville, VA |
| October 24 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | at Clemson | T 1–1 $^{2OT}$ | 7–6–2 (3–5–1) | Riggs Field (284) Clemson, SC |
| October 28 5:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 2 Duke | L 0–1 | 7–7–2 (3–6–1) | Lynn Stadium (304) Louisville, KY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## 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 | — |
| TopDrawer Soccer | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |