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No. 10 Syracuse (6-2, 0-2 ACC) at No. 3 Virginia (7-2, 2-0 ACC)
Date and Time Friday, Sept. 26, 6 p.m.
Location Charlottesville, Va. | Turf Field
Media Live Streaming Video ($) |
Additional Information 2014 Season Stats | Season Preview | 2014 Record Book (.pdf)
Social Media Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Sept. 25, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 3 Virginia field hockey team (7-2, 2-0 ACC) hosts No. 10 Syracuse (6-2, 0-2 ACC) on Friday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. at University Hall Turf Field. Admission is free for all of Virginia’s regular-season home field hockey games.

Live streaming video for the game will be available through the VirginiaSports.com website with a Cavaliers Live subscription.

The ACC-leading Cavaliers have won six-straight games, including a 2-1 road win at then-ranked No. 3 Duke on Friday night (Sept. 19) and a 3-2 overtime victory over then-ranked No. 7 Albany on Sunday (Sept. 21). Syracuse, which has lost its last two games after starting the season 6-0, is the third-straight top-10 ranked opponent the Cavaliers have faced.

This will also be the second-straight Friday that Virginia has played in a match-up between the third and 10th ranked teams, this time with the Cavaliers holding the higher ranking. Virginia moved up seven spots in this week’s NFHCA poll, jumping from No. 10 to No. 3, the highest ranking for the program since the beginning of the 2011 season. Syracuse fell from last week’s No. 4 ranking to No. 10 after dropping a 3-2 overtime game to Boston College last Saturday (Sept. 20).

Syracuse is currently averaging 3.75 goals per game, which ranks fourth in the nation. SU is outscoring its opponent by an average of 2.33 goals, which is the sixth-best mark in the nation. The Orange owns the 15th-best goals against average, allowing an average of 1.35 goals game.

Virginia is 2-1 all-time against SU, but the Orange won last year’s meeting in Syracuse, 4-1.

After starting the season 1-2, Virginia has won its last six games, the fifth time since the 2009 season that the Cavaliers have put together a string of at least a half-dozen consecutive victories, beginning with a program-best 11-straight games to start the 2009 campaign.

Virginia is ranked third in the ACC and sixth in the nation, averaging 3.67 goals per game. Virginia paces the conference and ranks sixth in the NCAA with 3.11 assists per game.

Midfielder Tara Vittese (Cherry Hill, N.J.) shared ACC Player of the Week honors this week with Louisville’s Mallory Mason, the second-straight week the freshman was recognized by the conference. Vittese came up big in two victories over top-10 opponents this weekend, scoring the first Cavalier goal at Duke and setting up the second score. In the 3-2 overtime win over Albany, she had two assists, including setting up the game-winner 2:52 into the extra period.

Vittese leads the ACC and is ranked 10th in the nation in points with six goals and 11 assists this season. Vittese currently paces the ACC and is ranked third in the NCAA, averaging 1.22 assists per game. Vittese’s 23 points are seven more than the next closest player in the conference, her teammate, sophomore striker Caleigh Foust (Bryn Mawr, Pa.).

Foust ranks second in the ACC and 15th in the nation, averaging 0.89 goals per game. Foust has 16 points on eight goals. Foust has scored the game-winner in all three of Virginia’s overtime games this season, with Vittese assisting on each of those goals.

Sophomore midfielder Lucy Hyams (Whitstable, England) scored her sixth goal of the season against Duke. The 2013 ACC Freshman of the Year ended her rookie campaign with five goals. Hyams, who leads the conference with 45 shots, has made 10 more scoring attempts than all of last season.

Vittese is second in the ACC in shots (33) with Foust ranking third (31). Syracuse paces the conference with 169 shots this season. The Cavaliers have taken 166.

Virginia will close out its current three-game home stand on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. when it hosts Vermont (0-7). The Cavaliers return to ACC competition next Friday, Oct. 3 when they travel to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to face No. 1 North Carolina.

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