No. 4 Virginia Hosts Radford Tuesday

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Date and Time Tuesday, Oct. 1, 6 p.m. Location Charlottesville, Va. | Turf Field
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Sept. 30, 2013

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 4 Virginia field hockey team (11-1) closes out a stretch of playing four games in seven days by hosting their second-straight NorPac Conference opponent, Radford (3-6), on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. at Turf Field.

Virginia has never lost to Radford, holding a 24-0 all-time record against the Highlanders.

Radford comes into the game having won two of its last three games, including a 3-1 victory on Sunday against Appalachian State. The Cavaliers are the third ACC school Radford will face this season after falling at North Carolina, 8-1, and 6-0 at Duke. Marianna Parker leads the team with six points (three goals). Radford has scored 11 goals in its nine games, averaging 1.22 per contest.Virginia is coming off a 3-0 week last week that included back-to-back shutouts of No. 15 Wake Forest, 3-0, and Liberty, 2-0.

Virginia comes into the week ranked No. 8 among all NCAA Division I teams averaging 3.5 goals per game and sixth with a 1.05 goals-against average, giving them the fourth-best scoring margin in the nation (+2.33).

In the last seven games, junior goalkeeper Jenny Johnstone (Paisley, Scotland) is allowing 0.57 goals per game. Johnstone, who has played every second in goal for the Cavaliers this season, is sixth in the country with a 1.05 goals-against average and 10th with a .803 save percentage. Johnstone leads the ACC with four shutouts this season.

Junior Kelsey LeBlanc (Haverford, Pa.) logged a defensive save on Friday night at Wake Forest. It was the eighth time this season a Virginia player was credited with a defensive save, ranking the Cavaliers third in the nation in defensive saves and helping to raise the team save percentage to .824, fourth-best in the NCAA.

In the three games last week, senior forward Elly Buckley (Scarborough, Perth, Australia) scored six goals with an assist, finding the net twice in each game. Buckley currently ranks third in the NCAA in points per game (3.92) and goals per game (1.25). Buckley leads the ACC in every offensive category except assists and assists per game, pacing the conference in game-winning goals (4), shots (86) and shots per game (7.17) in addition to goals and points. Buckley has taken 49 more shots than Nina Notman of North Carolina, who ranks second in the conference in that statistic. Freshman Caleigh Foust (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) is third with 36 shots.Buckley has moved up to fourth place on the Virginia career points list with 168, needing five points to tie Cindy Carzo (1976-79) for third. Buckley is in fifth on the Virginia career goals list at 68, needing one more to move into a tie for fourth with Jackie Campbell (1979-82). Carzo is in third place on the career goals list with 84.

Freshman midfielder Lucy Hyams (Whitstable, Kent, England) had three assists last Wednesday against James Madison. Hyams also had an assist at Wake Forest and another on Sunday at Liberty, giving her five in the week and six total for the season. Hyams, who scored the game-winning goal at Wake, also has four goals this season, giving her 14 points so far in her rookie campaign.

Hyams is one of three freshmen on the team with double-digit points. Foust and Riley Tata (Virginia Beach, Va.) each have 16 points, having scored eight goals apiece.

Senior Chloe Pendlebury (Perth, Australia), who has spent most of her career playing defense on the back line, has a career-high seven assists this season and has taken a career-high six shots on goal.

The Cavaliers are back on the road this weekend, heading to face No. 5 Syracuse on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 12 p.m. and No. 11 Albany on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. Virginia returns home on Friday, Oct. 11 when it hosts No. 9 Boston College at 6 p.m. Admission is free for all 2013 Virginia field hockey regular-season home games played at Turf Field.