/
.
No. 3 Virginia Closes Regular Season Against No. 13 Duke
Story Links
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The third-ranked Virginia field hockey team (15-2, 2-2 ACC) closes the regular season with a 1 p.m. contest against No. 13 Duke Saturday at the University Hall Turf Field. Cavalier seniors Lauren Elstein and Traci Ragukas will be honored following the game.
UVa is coming off a 2-0 win over No. 6 Wake Forest on the road last weekend. Sophomores Paige Selenski and Michelle Vittese each scored, while the Cavalier defense recorded its 10th shutout of the season.
Selenski continues to pace the attack with 21 goals on the year, including six game-winners. Her 21 scores rank second among ACC leaders. Teammates Tara Puffenberger and Traci Ragukas have contributed eight and seven goals, respectively, while Inga Stöckel leads the Cavaliers with seven assists.
Duke (9-8, 0-4 ACC) is coming off a road trip to the Buckeye state, where the Blue Devils went 1-1, beating Ohio 1-0 and falling to No. 15 Ohio State 2-1.
Senior Amie Survilla leads Duke with 20 goals on the season, while junior Susan Ferger has contributed eight goals and four assists. Sophomore Stefanie Fee has posted a team-best six assists. Junior goalkeeper Samantha Nelson has a 2.14 goals-against average and a .670 save percentage in the cage for the Blue Devils.
The game with Duke will also mark the third meeting between two-out-of-three triplet sisters Rachel Jennings of Virginia and Rachel Jennings of Duke. Both are sophomore midfielders for their respective teams. Their other sister, Erin, plays for fourth-ranked Princeton.
Virginia owns a 25-15 advantage over the Blue Devils in the all-time series between the two teams. Last year, the Cavaliers claimed both meetings, a 4-3 win in Durham in the final game of the regular season, and a 5-2 victory in the first round of the ACC Tournament, also held at Duke. The last Blue Devil win was a 3-1 decision in Durham in 2006.
With the regular season concluding, Virginia will play host to the 2009 ACC Championship beginning Thursday (Nov. 5). The bracket for the tournament will be annouced Saturday evening.