No. 7 Virginia Opens ACC Play at BC
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| No. 7 Virginia (7-2) vs. No. 22 Boston College |
Date and Time Friday, Sept. 21, 7 p.m. Location Newton, Mass. | Newton Campus Field
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Sept. 19, 2012
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 7 Virginia field hockey team (7-2) opens ACC play on Friday, Sept. 21 when it faces No. 22 Boston College (4-4) at 7 p.m. at the Newton Campus Field in Newton, Mass.
The Cavaliers will also face a second top-25 team in Massachusetts this weekend, taking on No. 12 Boston University on Sunday, Sept. 23 at 11 a.m. Because of a year-long construction project on the BU field, the game, like all of BU’s “home” contests this season, will be played at Harvard.
This is the second road trip of the season for the Cavaliers in which they have faced back-to-back ranked teams on the road. In Michigan, the Cavaliers split their games with an overtime win against No. 20 Michigan State and a 3-2 loss to No. 14 Northeastern.
Both of the Cavaliers’ losses this season have come on the road against ranked teams. Virginia also fell, 3-2, at No. 9 Penn State during its first road trip of the season.
After a pair of victories last week at William & Mary, 2-0, and at home against Miami (Ohio), 6-1, Virginia moved up two spots in this week’s Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches’ Poll. The Cavaliers began the year ranked eighth in the preseason poll, moved up to sixth, before dropping to ninth last week. North Carolina continues to hold the top spot.
The Cavaliers come into the week ranked No. 1 in goals per game in the latest NCAA statistical rankings. The Virginia offense is averaging 4.78 goals per game, the top mark among all Division I teams. The Cavaliers are also ranked second in assists-per-game (3.78) and points-per-game (13.33).
Paige Selenski (R-Sr., Shavertown, Pa.) is second in the country points-per-game (4.50) and ranks third among all NCAA Division I players in goals per game (1.75) and assists per game (1.0). Selenski logged her third hat trick of the season with three goals against Miami. It was the seventh time in Selenski’s career that she scored three or more goals in a game.
The three goals (six points) moved her closer to the Cavalier records for career goals and points. Selenski has 87 career goals, 14 shy of the all-time record of 101 set by Meredith Thorpe (1995-98). Selenski, with 207 career points, trails Thorpe by 23 points.
Elly Buckley (Jr., Scarborough Perth, Australia) is seventh among all NCAA Division I players in points-per-game (2.67) and eighth in goals-per-game (1.11). Rachel Sumfest (So., Lewisburg, Pa.) is also ranked in the top-50 in points-per-game (No. 20, 2.0) and goals-per-game (No. 29, 0.78).
The Cavaliers have two other players ranked in the top-50 in assists-per-game with Michelle Vittese (R-Sr., Cherry Hill, N.J.) at No. 23 (0.63 per game) and Chloe Pendlebury (Jr., Perth, Australia) at No. 47 (0.56 per game). Goalkeeper Jenny Johnstone (So., Paisley, Scotland) is No. 37 with a 1.89 goals-against average.
Since Boston College joined the ACC in 2005, the Cavaliers have opened conference play against the Eagles in six of the seven years. The Eagles hold a 4-3 edge while meeting as conference opponents. The Cavaliers hold an 8-6 advantage in all-time meetings.
Games between the two have been close with last year’s contest being decided in double overtime with BC earning the 5-4 victory. In 2010, it was the Cavaliers who prevailed 3-2 in single overtime. The 2008 contest was also decided in 2OT, with Virginia winning 2-1.
Virginia is nearing the 500th win in program history. Since 1973, the Cavaliers are 498-266-21under the eight head coaches in the history of the program, two shy of the benchmark win. The Cavaliers reached 400 program wins with a 7-1 victory over Ball State on Aug. 28, 2005.
The Cavaliers return home on Friday, Sept. 28 when they host Maryland at 6 p.m. at Turf Field. Admission is free for all 2012 regular season home games played at Turf Field.