Cavaliers Accept Bid to NCAA Field Hockey Championships

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The Virginia field hockey team has accepted a bid to the 2007 NCAA Championships and will face Penn State in a first-round game held in College Park, Md. on November 10 at 2 p.m. The No. 12/18 Cavaliers (11-9) will face the No. 8/9 Nittany Lions (13-7) for the second time in 2007; the two sides met on August 26 in Charlottesville where PSU defeated Virginia 3-1.

Virginia is making its 17th appearance in the national championships and its second consecutive after advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2006. The Cavaliers have an overall record of 9-19 in the national championships.

Virginia is coming off a semifinal finish at the ACC Championships in which it upset fourth-seeded and host Boston College 3-2 in extra time. The Cavaliers faced the nation’s eighth-toughest schedule in 2007 that included games against eight teams in the 2007 Championships; the Hoos posted a record of 2-7 in those games.

The Cavaliers have a 3-11 record all-time against Penn State, including this year’s contest. One of the wins came in the 1997 NCAA Championships in Charlottesville when the Hoos defeated Penn State 4-2 and advanced to the NCAA semifinals for the first time in school history.

The other game at the College Park regional features host Maryland against traditional rival Old Dominion and will take place at 11 a.m. The winners of the first two games will advance to meet in College Park on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. The Terrapins will also serve as the host of the semifinals and finals, which will take place on November 16 and 18.

The entire bracket is as follows:

Chapel Hill, N.C.
#1 UNC vs Stanford
James Madison vs Duke

Storrs, Conn.
#4 Connecticut vs Massachusetts
Iowa vs Boston University

Ann Arbor, Mich.
#3 Wake Forest vs Michigan State
Michigan vs Ohio

College Park, Md.
#2 Maryland vs Old Dominion
Penn State vs Virginia