Cavalier Hockey to Face Ohio State in NCAA First Round

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Nov. 6, 2001

The University of Virginia Cavalier field hockey team will face The Ohio State University in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Field Hockey Championships. The game will take place at Wake Forest University on Saturday, November 10. Game time is still to be determined.

The Cavaliers and the Buckeyes met this year on October 7 in Charlottesville. Virginia defeated Ohio State 2-1 behind goals from Cara Unterkofler (Centreville, Va./Centreville) and Carrie Goodloe (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs). Keeper Emily White (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) made eight saves.

Virginia has an 8-1 record all-time against the Buckeyes. The Cavaliers and the Buckeyes have never faced each other in post season competition, although both teams were invited to the 1976 AIAW National Championships in West Chester, Pa. Both teams won their first game, and then lost their next two.

Merideth Thorpe, Virginia’s assistant coach, played for the Cavaliers from 1995-1998 and was then an assistant at Ohio State for the 1999 and 2000 years before returning to Charlottesville.

This is the Cavaliers’ seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament and their 12th appearance in the NCAA championships. In program history, the Cavaliers have made 14 national championship appearances, including two trips to the AIAW national championships. Only seven other schools have made more trips to the NCAA tournament.

The other teams in the regional bracket are Wake Forest and Ohio University. Virginia lost to Wake Forest 3-0 on October 21 at Wake, while Virginia defeated the Bobcats 3-2 in overtime in Athens. This is the first trip to the NCAA tournament for the Bobcats, who won the Mid-American conference. Wake Forest advanced to the NCAA semifinals in 2000.

The entire bracket is as follows:

at Princeton	Princeton vs Northeastern	Old Dominion vs Massachusetts

at Michigan North Carolina vs Michigan Michigan State vs Kent State

at Maryland Maryland vs Fairfield Syracuse vs California-Berkeley

at Wake Forest Wake Forest vs Ohio VIRGINIA vs Ohio State

All first round games will take place on Saturday, Nov. 10 with the regional finals taking place on Sunday, Nov. 11.