Virginia Faces North Carolina in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Saturday

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May 15, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s lacrosse team (11-8) will face North Carolina (15-4) in the quarterfinals of the 2014 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship on Saturday, May 17 at 1 p.m. in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Live streaming video of the game will be available online through ESPN3.

The sixth-seeded Cavaliers advanced to face third-seeded North Carolina after earning a 13-11 victory over Princeton last Sunday (May 11). North Carolina dispatched Georgetown, 10-8, in its second-round game last Sunday.

The winners of this weekend’s four quarterfinal games will advance to the semifinals and final hosted by Towson May 23 and 25 at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland. The semifinal games will be shown live on ESPN3 at 5 and 7:30 p.m. ET, Friday, May 23. The championship game will air live on ESPNU at 8:30 p.m. ET, Sunday, May 25.

This is the second-straight year that the Cavaliers and Tar Heels will be playing one another in Chapel Hill in the NCAA quarterfinals. Last season, third-seeded UNC earned a 13-9 victory over UVa prior to winning its first national championship in a 13-12 triple-overtime win against Maryland in the finals. Virginia is 32-23 in the NCAA Tournament games with 13 semifinal appearances, eight trips to the national championship game and three NCAA Titles (1991, 1993, 2004). Last season, the Cavaliers won a pair of games to advance to the quarterfinals before falling to UNC.

North Carolina leads the all-time series against Virginia, 20-12. Carolina has won nine games in a row over UVa, including a 14-10 victory earlier this season in Charlottesville, and 11 of the last 12 installments in the series. Virginia’s season has ended in an NCAA Tournament loss at North Carolina in three of the last four seasons. Virginia is 1-6 all-time vs. the Tar Heels in the NCAA Tournament and 0-4 in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels are 13-4 in the NCAA Tournament since 2009. Carolina is 16-1 at home in NCAA Tournament games and has won its last 15 home NCAA Tournament games in a row.

After starting the season 4-6, Virginia has won seven of its last nine games, including victories over No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 6 Boston College and No. 7 Duke. The Cavaliers’ two losses during that span have come against the NCAA Tournament’s top-seed, Maryland. North Carolina is 4-4 in its last eight games with losses to Northwestern, Duke and a pair of losses to Syracuse in that span. The Tar Heels also have a 17-15 win over Maryland during that time.

North Carolina is averaging 15.16 goals per game while allowing 9.0. Virginia is scoring 13.47 per game while allowing 11.63. Virginia has 271 draw controls this season while UNC has won 267. North Carolina has 368 ground balls to Virginia’s 317.

Junior Courtney Swan (Vero Beach, Fla.), one of four Cavaliers to earn first team all-region honors this season, led Virginia with a four-goal, two-assist performance in the victory over Princeton. Swan ranks fifth in the ACC and 13th in the nation, averaging 4.16 points per game, has contributed points in 21-straight games, a streak that dates back to last season. Swan also ranks third in the ACC and 15th in the nation in draw controls, averaging 4.79 per game. Her 91 draw controls this season are the second-most in program history. Swan needs to win six draw controls to tie the single-season record of 97 set in 2010 by Brittany Kalkstein.

Senior Liza Blue (Butler, Md.), who also was named first team all-region, had a hat trick in the regular-season game against the Tar Heels. Blue, who is tied with Swan for the team lead with 53 goals this season, has scored at least one goal in 25-straight games and has put up a hat trick in four of the last six games. Blue, who is second on the squad with 53 draw controls this season, won five draws in the victory over Princeton, including the final three draws of the game that helped cement the Cavalier victory.

Senior Liz Colgan (Cockeysville, Md.) earned first-team all-ACC and first-team all-region honors this season. Her 186 saves this season is the third-highest total in the nation. Colgan, who has paced the ACC in saves per game all season and is currently averaging 9.79 stops per contest, made 22 saves against the Tar Heels in the March 8th game, the highest single-game total by an ACC goalkeeper this season and second nationally, topped only by a 23-save performance by Wagner’s Katie Ferrarro.

Junior Daniela Eppler (Baltimore, Md.), who has shifted during the season from playing defense to playing midfield, has scored a goal in five-straight games and is averaging a goal per game over her last seven contests. Eppler also picked up a career-high five ground balls in the Princeton game.

Six of the eight teams remaining in the tournament are from the ACC. The conference is guaranteed to have three teams in the final four and at least one in the national championship game.