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No. 10 Virginia Travels to No. 3 Duke on Friday
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| No. 10 Virginia at No. 3 Duke | |
| Date and Time | Friday, Sept. 19, 6 p.m. ET |
| Location | Durham, N.C. | Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium |
| Media | Live Streaming Video($) | Live Stats |
| Additional Information | 2014 Season Stats | Season Preview | 2014 Record Book (.pdf) |
| Social Media | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram |
Sept. 18, 2014
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 10 Virginia field hockey team (5-2, 1-0 ACC) begins a stretch of three-straight games against top-10 opponents on Friday, Sept. 19, when the Cavaliers play at No. 3 Duke (6-0, 1-0 ACC) at 6 p.m.
The Blue Devils will be the fifth ranked opponent Virginia has faced during the first eight games of the season. The Cavaliers will host No. 7 Albany in a non-conference tilt on Sunday (Sept. 21), before facing No. 4 Syracuse next Friday (Sept. 26) at Turf Field. After a Sept. 28 home contest against unranked Vermont, Virginia will travel to Chapel Hill to face No. 1 North Carolina on Oct. 3, giving UVa eight top-20 matchups in its first 12 games of the season, including six contests against top-10 squads.
After sweeping a pair of road contests last weekend to move to 6-0, Duke moved up one spot to No. 3 in this week’s Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll. The No. 3 ranking is the highest for the program since the Blue Devils were tabbed third nationally to start the 2006 campaign. Duke’s 6-0 start to the fall is the program’s best since the 1978 season.
Last season, the Cavaliers and Blue Devils played a pair of one-goal games with Virginia winning the regular-season meeting, 4-3, and Duke eliminating UVa in the first round of the ACC Tournament, 2-1. It will also be a battle of a pair of All-ACC goalkeepers as Virginia senior Jenny Johnstone (Paisley, Scotland) earned the honor in 2012, while Duke’s Lauren Blazing was the 2013 honoree.
Virginia has won four-straight games, including a double-overtime victory over No. 15 Louisville and a overtime win against Rutgers last weekend. The Cavaliers are tied for the ACC lead, averaging 4.0 goals per game, which is also tied for third-best in the nation. Duke is averaging 2.17 goals per contest.
Freshman midfielder Tara Vittese, the first ever Virginia freshman to earn preseason All-ACC honors, was named the ACC Player of the Week last week after contributing 11 points in Virginia’s overtime victories last weekend. Vittese assisted on both of the overtime game-winners. She also scored her first career hat trick against Rutgers, including converting a pair of penalty strokes. Vittese leads the conference with 18 points, averaging 2.57 per game, which ranks 13th in the nation. Vittese is second in the ACC and seventh in the NCAA with 1.14 assists per game.
Sophomore striker Caleigh Foust (Bryn Mawr, Pa.), who scored both of the overtime game winners last week, is averaging 1.00 goals per game, tying her for first in the ACC and 13th in the NCAA. Foust’s 24 points is tied for third in the ACC.
Sophomore striker Riley Tata (Virginia Beach, Va.) is tied for eighth in the ACC, averaging 0.71 goals per game. Along with Foust and Vittese, Tata gives the Cavaliers three players among the top-10 in goal scoring and points in the conference.