Virginia Hosts NCAA Field Hockey First and Second Rounds

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Date and Time Saturday, Nov. 10 Location Charlottesville, Va. | Turf Field
Media Drexel/ Princeton GameTracker | Iowa/Virginia GameTracker Additional Information 2012 NCAA Tournament Bracket (.pdf) | 2012 Season Stats | Season Preview | Rule Changes for 2012 | 2012 Record Book (.pdf)
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Nov. 8, 2012

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia is one of four host sites for the first and second rounds of 2012 NCAA Field Hockey Championship. Princeton (17-1), the No. 2 seed in the 16-team tournament, will face Drexel (15-6) on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 11:30 a.m. followed by the Cavaliers (15-5) taking on Iowa (14-6) at 2 p.m. The winners of Saturday’s games will advance to play in the second round contest on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m.

All seats at Turf Field for the games will be general admission with adult tickets priced at $5 and Student/Youth tickets priced at $3. Advance tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, Nov. 7 and will also be available for purchase the day of the game at Turf Field.

Day-of-game sales will be cash or check only. No credit card transactions can be processed at the onsite ticket office. The ticket office and gates to the field open one hour prior to the start of the first game each day.

There will also be a $5 parking fee for those parking in the Cage Lot. Free parking will be available in the UHall, John Paul Jones Arena, and McCue lots. Note: There is also a home football game on Saturday with kickoff scheduled for 12 p.m. All parking is first come, first served so please plan to arrive early.

North Carolina, Penn State, and Connecticut will serve as the other three host sites for the first and second round games. The winner of each site will advance to the NCAA semifinals on Nov. 16 at Powhatan Sports Complex at Old Dominion University. The National Championship game will take place on Nov. 18 at Old Dominion.

This is the 18th trip to the NCAA Tournament for the Cavaliers and their sixth in head coach Michele Madison’s seven seasons at Virginia.

This is the fourth time that the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be played in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers are 5-0 in NCAA Tournament games played on their home turf, each time advancing to the NCAA semifinals after hosting opening rounds.

The Cavaliers defeated Penn State, 4-2, in 1997. They have twice defeated Michigan State, 3-2, with both games going into overtime (2009 and 2010). Virginia also has a 3-0 victory over Richmond in 2009. The last NCAA field hockey game played in Charlottesville was a 4-2 Virginia victory over Princeton in 2010 to send the Cavaliers to the NCAA Semifinals.

The Cavaliers have made four trips to the NCAA Semifinals (1997, 1998, 2009, 2010), but are still looking for their first National Championship Game appearance.The Cavaliers and Hawkeyes are 2-2 in their all-time series. Their last meeting was a 3-2 UVa loss in a neutral site game played at Penn State in 2008. Virginia and Iowa faced one another in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament in Winston-Salem with the Cavaliers coming away with a 1-0 victory to advance to the second round (where they fell, 3-2, to host Wake Forest).

Virginia has only faced Drexel once, with the Cavaliers earning a 2-1 overtime victory over the Dragons in a neutral site contest at Princeton during the 2003 season. The Virginia/Princeton all-time series is knotted at 2-2 with the Tigers winning 2-1 in Charlottesville on Oct. 28.

Princeton is ranked No. 2 in this week’s NFHCA poll. Virginia is seventh, Iowa is 14th, and Drexel is 15th.

As a team, Virginia ranks in the top-10 in the NCAA Division I statistical rankings in five different categories, including ranking sixth in goals-per-game (3.95).

Virginia won nine consecutive games at Turf Field this season before falling to Princeton in the regular-season finale. UVa outscored opponents 56-13 at home this season with four shutouts.

Virginia head coach Michele Madison is approaching another career milestone. Madison, who won the 300th game of her head coaching career earlier this season, comes into the game with a record of 99-52 in her six seasons as the Cavalier head coach. A victory would make her the third head coach in program history to win 100 games at Virginia. The 100 victories would also tie her with Jane Miller (1983-91) for second most career victories at UVa. Linda Southworth (1975-82) is the winningest coach in the program’s history with 118 wins in eight seasons.

Paige Selenksi (R-Sr., Shavertown, Pa.) became Virginia’s all-time leader in career points in the Duke game. Selenski, who comes into the game with 235 career points, will end her career ranked second on the ACC career list, trailing only Maryland alum Katie O’Donnell (2007-10, 306 points). She is eighth on the NCAA career points list.

Selenski is closing in on another Virginia and ACC record, the career goals mark. Selenski trails Virginia alum Meredith Thorpe (1995-98) by two goals. Selenski has 99 career goals coming into the game. Thorpe is the only player in ACC history to score more than 100 goals in her career. Selenski is trying to become just the 10th player in NCAA history (and the second this season) to reach the 100 career goal mark.

Selenski leads the ACC in seven different statistical categories, including shots (109), shots-per-game (5.74), points (64), points-per-game (3.37), goals (26) and game-winning goals (7). Selenski is currently second among all NCAA Division I players in points-per-game, fourth in goals-per-game, and 13th in assists-per-game.

Selenski was one of four Cavaliers to earn All-ACC honors. Selenski and North Carolina’s Kelsey Kolojejchick both have been named to the All-ACC squad four times, just the eighth and ninth players in the 30-year history of ACC field hockey to be four-time honorees. Selenski was also named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year, just the second time in program history that a Cavalier earned the conference player of the year honor.

Elly Buckley (Jr., Scarborough Perth, Australia) earned her third straight All-ACC honor. Buckley leads the ACC with four defensive saves this season. On the offensive end, the sweeper is tied for fourth in the ACC and ranks 25th in the nation in goals-per-game (0.75) as well as fourth in the ACC and 22nd in the national rankings in points-per-game (1.85).

Goalkeeper Jenny Johnstone (So., Paisley, Scotland) earned her first All-ACC honor. Johnstone leads the conference with a 73.7 percent save percentage and is second with a 1.65 goals-against average. Johnstone has a 12-4 record with two shutouts.

Defender Katie Robinson (junior, Mount Joy, Pa.) was named to the ACC All-Tournament team. Robinson made several key tackles and had a block on one of Maryland’s penalty corner shots in the Cavaliers semifinals loss. This was the first conference honor for Robinson.

Virginia forward Britt Knouse has been invited to participate in the prestigious NFHCA Senior Game on Saturday, Nov. 17 at Old Dominion at 3 p.m. Knouse missed the first 15 games of the 2012 season, working her way back from a knee injury she sustained last year in spring practice. She returned to action against North Carolina and has started the Cavaliers’ last two games. She began her career by scoring a goal in her very first game, adding nine more goals and four assists over her career.