Field Hockey Announces 2013 Schedule

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June 24, 2013

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia announced its 2013 field hockey schedule, with the Cavaliers slated to play ten regular-season home contests at University Hall Turf Field.

The Cavaliers will play a challenging schedule, taking on six teams who participated in the 2012 NCAA Field Hockey Championships including three of the four semifinalists. During the 19-game slate, Virginia will face 14 teams that were ranked in the top-25 at some point during the 2012 season, including facing three teams who held a No. 1 ranking last season.

“The strength of our schedule is pretty much routine as the ACC is the top-ranked RPI conference in the nation,” said head coach Michele Madison. “To be able to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, we need to play top teams during the year. It also prepares us to face those same top-teams in the post season by challenging us during the regular season. It is important for the team to stay level-headed through the schedule, generate momentum when we have opportunities to do it, treat all opponents the same and just keep building our game so that we can be the best that we can be.”

Virginia opens the season hosting Louisville in a non-conference game on Friday, Aug. 30 at 6 p.m. The Cardinals, who were ranked as high as No. 23 last season, will become a conference opponent in 2014. The Cavaliers finish the opening homestand taking on Penn State, an NCAA Tournament team in 2012, on Sunday, Sept. 1 at 1 p.m.

“Opening up with Louisville at home is good for us since we have so many young players,” Madison said. “It’s a strong open. The team knows this and has an entire summer to prepare for those opening matches.”

Other non-conference opponents that will be coming to Charlottesville this season include Richmond (Sept. 11), Northwestern (Sept. 22), James Madison (Sept. 25), Radford (Oct. 1) and William & Mary (Oct. 13). Virginia will also host a neutral site game between Boston College and Longwood on Sunday, Oct. 13 immediately following the Cavaliers’ contest against William & Mary.

The Cavaliers also host ACC foes North Carolina (Sept. 20), Boston College (Oct. 11) and Duke (Oct. 18).

“Our team loves playing at home because we have one of the best fields in the nation,” Madison said. “We love playing in front of our fans because we get great support from them, the Charlottesville community and the students and athletes of the University. We hope to get a boost from playing at home that will help propel us to road wins as it is really difficult to win on the road in this conference.”

Virginia will face Syracuse for the first time as an ACC opponent in New York on Saturday, Oct. 5. The Orange advanced to the NCAA semifinals last season. The Cavaliers will close out that road trip taking on Albany, another 2012 NCAA Tournament team, on Sunday, Oct. 6.

“We have to play back-to-back games in the ACC and NCAA tournaments, so it is good to have that opportunity and train for it to gain the experience during the regular season so we will be better prepared for the postseason,” Madison said. “Syracuse was a Final Four team last year and will probably challenge again this year. [Head coach] Ange Bradley will have that team primed and ready for the ACC. Albany is a tough contender. We also didn’t want to travel all the way to Syracuse and play only one game, so we added Albany to the schedule with the Great Danes making a trip to Virginia in 2014.”

The Cavaliers will face Maine and Vermont at the Sheraton Classic Tournament Sept. 14-15 in Burlington, Vt.

“We played in the Burlington tournament in 2007, so I know that Vermont puts on a great a tournament,” Madison said. “Maine was ranked in the top-25 last year, so this will give us two quality out-of-region games. We also look forward to Vermont having a reciprocal visit to Charlottesville in 2014.”

Virginia will also play road games at Yale (Sept. 6), Old Dominion (Sept. 8), Wake Forest (Sept. 27) and Liberty (Sept. 29) before finishing the regular season at Maryland (Oct. 25).

“This is the first year since I have been in the conference that the ACC schedule has gotten shuffled,” Madison said. “We normally take on Maryland pretty early in the season, but they are a formidable opponent no matter when we play them. With Maryland heading to the Big 10 after this year, I know that they will come with all guns blazing. They are really physical and aggressive and it’s a great way to end the regular season and prepare for the ACC Tournament.”

The ACC Tournament will be hosted by Boston College Nov. 7-10 in Newton, Mass.

2013 Schedule
Friday, Aug. 30 Louisville 6pm
Sunday, Sept. 1 Penn State 1pm
Friday, Sept. 6 @ Yale 2pm
Sunday, Sept 8 @ Old Dominion 1pm
Wednesday, Sept. 11 Richmond 6pm
The Sheraton Classic (Burlington, Vermont)
Saturday, Sept 14 @Maine 11:30
Sunday, Sept 15 @Vermont 12pm
Friday, Sept. 20 North Carolina* 6pm
Wednesday, Sept. 25 James Madison 6pm
Friday, Sept. 27 @ Wake Forest* 6pm
Sunday, Sept 29 @ Liberty TBD
Tuesday, October 1 Radford 6pm
Saturday, Oct. 5 @ Syracuse* 12pm
Sunday, Oct. 6 @ Albany 2pm
Friday, Oct. 11 Boston College* 6pm
Sunday, Oct. 13 William and Mary 1pm
Sunday, Oct. 13 BC vs Longwood 3pm
Friday, Oct. 18 Duke* 6pm
Friday, Oct. 25 @ Maryland* 6pm

November 7-10 ACC Tournament @Boston College
November 16/17 NCAA First & Second Rounds – TBD
November 22& 24 NCAA Semifinals & Finals @ Old Dominion, VA
Home Games in BOLD