No. 3 Virginia Faces No. 1 North Carolina Friday in Chapel Hill

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Oct. 2, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 3 Virginia field hockey team (9-2, 3-0 ACC) will face No. 1 North Carolina (8-1, 2-1 ACC) on Friday, Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. at Francis E. Henry Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The ACC-leading Cavaliers have won eight-straight games, including victories over three top-10 squads (then-ranked No. 3 Duke, then-ranked No. 7 Albany and No. 10 Syracuse) in the last four games.

This will be the second-straight top-three opponent for the Tar Heels after earning a 2-1 victory against No. 2 UConn on Sunday (Sept. 28) in a neutral-site game at Boston College. North Carolina’s only loss this season was a 3-2 road loss at Louisville.

Virginia retained its No. 3 ranking in this week’s IWLCA poll, matching the highest ranking for the team since the beginning of the 2011 season. North Carolina was ranked second in the preseason poll, but has held the top spot since the first poll of the regular season.

Last season, Virginia fell 2-1 to the Tar Heels in Charlottesville. Virginia’s last victory over UNC was a 1-0 game in the 2009 ACC Tournament. The Cavaliers’ last regular-season win over the Tar Heels was a 2-1 win in Chapel Hill in 2006, Michele Madison’s first season as the UVa head coach. In the last seven meetings between the two (dating back to 2009), six of the games have been decided by one goal with three of those contests going into overtime. North Carolina leads the all-time series, 49-16.

Virginia leads the ACC in scoring average at 3.84 goals per game. North Carolina, which averages 3.31 goals per game, paces the conference in scoring margin at +2.21. The Cavaliers are second in the ACC, averaging 2.10 more goals than opponents. The Cavaliers are averaging 20.73 shots per game while the Tar Heels take 16.0.

North Carolina senior forward Charlotte Craddock was named the ACC Player of the Week last week after scoring the game-winning goal in UNC’s victories over Boston College and UConn. Craddock leads UNC with nine goals, five of which have been game-winners. Craddock leads the ACC with a 1.00 goals-per-game average.

Freshman midfielder Tara Vittese (Cherry Hill, N.J.) ranks third in the nation in points (2.82) and assists (1.18) per game, leading the ACC in both categories. Last week, Vittese scored a pair of goals against Syracuse, including the game-winner, and added another goal and two assists in the 8-0 victory over Vermont. Vittese has contributed at least two points in each of the last six games, including posting seven points (three goals and an assist) in the victory over Rutgers. In conference games this season, Vittese has averaged 3.67 points, 1.33 goals and 1.00 assists per game and has scored the game-winner in two of the three victories.

Sophomore striker Riley Tata (Virginia Beach, Va.) scored three goals in the victory over Vermont, her first career hat trick. Tata is tied for fourth in the ACC in goals per game (0.73) and is also in the top-10 in points per game (1.64). Tata leads the team with an .833 shot-on-goal percentage and a .278 shooting percentage.

Senior goalkeeper Jenny Johnstone (Paisley, Scotland) logged ten saves in last week’s victory over Syracuse and earned her second shutout of the season in Sunday’s victory over Vermont. In conference games this season, Johnstone has an ACC-best 1.24 goals-against average and a conference-topping .818 save percentage.

Virginia’s only victory over a team ranked No. 1 was Sept. 30, 2001, when the No. 11 Cavaliers defeated 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 North Carolina and 2-1 in overtime to Maryland. In 2008, UVa lost twice in overtime to Maryland, falling 4-3 in the regular season and 3-2 in the ACC Tournament.

Virginia closes out the weekend hosting Ohio State (3-6, 0-2 Big Ten) on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. at Turf Field. Virginia is 1-2 against Big Ten teams this season, having defeated Rutgers, but fallen to Iowa and Penn State. Admission is free for all of Virginia’s regular-season home field hockey games.