No. 4 Virginia Hosts No. 1 North Carolina on Friday

Story Links

Date and Time Friday, Sept. 20, 6 p.m. Location Charlottesville, Va. | Turf Field
Live Stats GameTracker Additional Information Parking Map: Sept 20 | 2013 Season Stats | Season Preview | 2013 Record Book (.pdf)
Social Media Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Sept. 18, 2013

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 4 Virginia field hockey team (7-0) hosts No. 1 North Carolina (6-0) on Friday, Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. at Turf Field.

Note: Because of the Car Wars event in the parking lot of John Paul Jones Arena, parking will be limited on Friday night. Parking for soccer and field hockey will be available in the U-Hall and McCue lots and Emmet/Ivy Garage on a first-come, first-served basis. See the parking map above for more information.

The Cavaliers and Tar Heels are two of the six remaining unbeaten teams in the NCAA, with two other ACC teams, Maryland (6-0) and Syracuse (6-0), also still posting perfect records. Syracuse plays at Boston College on Friday while Maryland hosts Wake Forest.

Virginia’s three victories last week paired with a 4-3 loss to Penn State by then-No. 3 Princeton, Virginia moved up to No. 4 in this week’s Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches’ Poll of the season after being ranked No. 7 in the preseason poll and No. 5 last week. North Carolina remained the No. 1 team, earning 26 first-place votes.

Virginia’s only victory over a team ranked No. 1 was Sept. 30, 2001, when the No. 11 Cavaliers defeated No. 1 Maryland, 3-2, on strokes. The Cavaliers have come close on several other occasions, including twice losing by a goal during the 2010 season, falling 3-2 to No. 1 North Carolina and 2-1 in overtime to No. 1 Maryland. In 2008, UVa lost twice in overtime to No. 1 Maryland, falling 4-3 in the regular season and 3-2 in the ACC Tournament.

Virginia’s 7-0 start is the third time in the last four seasons the Cavaliers have logged victories in the first seven games of the season. The 2010 squad won its first nine games, while the 2011 team started 11-0.

Virginia went 3-0 last week, downing Richmond, 2-1, in a sudden-death shootout, followed by back-to-back shutouts of Maine (2-0) and Vermont (7-0).Junior goalkeeper Jenny Johnstone (Paisley, Scotland) is ranked 13th in the NCAA in goals-against average at 1.21 per game. Johnstone is second in the ACC at 4.71 saves-per-game.

The Cavaliers as a team are ranked in the top-10 in the nation in goals per game (5th, 4.0), scoring margin (6th, +2.56), points per game (6th, 10.57), scoring average (6th, 3.77), save percentage (.809) and defensive saves (3rd, 5).

Senior Elly Buckley (Scarborough, Perth, Australia) is averaging 3.14 points per game, which ranks her fourth in the nation and first in the ACC. Buckley also leads the conference in shots at 8.43 per game and goals at 1.29.

Buckley added two goals and two assists in the Vermont game, moving her into sixth place on the Virginia career points list with 155. Buckley is currently two points behind Meredith Elwell (1996-99), who currently ranks fifth on the career list at 157 points.

Freshman Caleigh Foust (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) is 12th in the NCAA with a 1.0 goals per game average.

Freshman Lucy Hyams (Whitstable, Kent, England) was the steady offensive force for the Cavaliers last week, scoring one goal in each of the three games. Hyams took 10 shots in the three games, seven on-target.

Juniors Jess Orrett (Wells, Somerset, England) and Kelsey LeBlanc (Haverford, Pa.) and sophomore Taylor Brown (Charlottesville, Va.) each scored their first goal of the season during last week’s action.

Virginia will close out the weekend with another top-20 showdown, hosting No. 13 Northwestern (7-1) on Sunday, Sept. 22 at 1 p.m. Admission is free for all 2013 Virginia field hockey regular-season home games.