Three Home Games This Week for No. 8 Virginia

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Date and Time Wednesday, Aug. 29, 5 p.m. Location Charlottesville, Va. | Turf Field
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Aug. 28, 2012

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 8 Virginia field hockey team (1-1) will play its first home game of the 2012 season, hosting the Richmond Spiders (1-0) on Wednesday, Aug. 29 at 5 p.m. at Turf Field.

The game is the first of a three-game homestand that includes a contest on Friday, Aug. 31 at 3 p.m. against Towson and concludes with a Sunday, Sept. 2 showdown with No. 3 Old Dominion.

Virginia began the 2012 season as a top-10 team, being voted into eighth place in the 2012 Penn Monto/ NFHCA Division I preseason coaches poll. The Cavaliers garnered three first-place votes and had 539 points, in a vote of field hockey coaches across the nation. The first regular-season poll will be released on Sept. 4.Sunday’s opponent, Old Dominion, earned 629 votes to give them a preseason No. 3 ranking. The Monarchs fell, 5-2, in their season-opener at No. 9 Penn State before earning a victory against American to start the season 1-1. They will face No. 1 Maryland on Friday before playing in Charlottesville on Sept. 2.The Cavaliers opened the season with a split on their Pennsylvania road trip, earning a 4-3 victory in overtime at Temple before falling, 3-2, to No. 9 Penn State.

After having a hand in all four of the goals in the Temple game, Rachel Sumfest (So., Lewisburg, Pa.) currently leads the team with six points (two goals, two assists). Elly Buckley (Jr., Scarborough Perth, Australia), with two goals and an assist at Temple, has five points. Buckley leads the team with seven shots.

In both games this season, Virginia has dominated the second half of play. All five of the team’s goals have been scored in the second half. The Cavaliers have outshot their opponents 21-7 after the halftime break.

Paige Selenski (R-Sr., Shavertown, Pa.), with her goal against Penn State, moved into a tie for second place on the Virginia career points list. Selenski, with 173 career points, is now tied with Cindy Carzo (1976-79). She is 57 points shy of Meridith Thorpe’s 230 career points (1995-98). Selenski is currently third on the career goals list with 74, 10 shy of tying Carzo for second on the career list at 84.

Buckley also moved into the career top-10 list. With her two goals and an assist at Temple, Buckley moved into 10th place on the career points list with 97. She is eight points shy of tying with Cheryl Gleason (1981-84) for ninth place on the list at 105 points. Buckley also moved into a tie on the career goals list with 38, matching Lorraine Vizzuso (1997-2000). Buckley is four goals behind tying Gleason in ninth place at 42 goals.

The Wahoos will be facing Richmond in the home-opener. The Spiders, a 2011 NCAA Tournament participant, come into the game with a 1-0 record after earning a 4-1 road victory over No. 25 American. The Cavaliers own a 31-4-1 record against the Spiders and have won the last six meetings. However, seven of the last 10 games between the two schools have been decided by one goal.

The Spiders, who have won the A-10 championship seven out of the last 10 years, return nine starters and 18 letterwinners from last year’s team. Among those starters will include junior All-American goalkeeper Anna Zarkoski, who had 101 saves and seven shutouts last season, and junior All-Region midfielder Chelsea Davies.

Admission is free for all 2012 regular season home games played at Turf Field.