No. 3 Virginia Field Hockey Plays Friday at Richmond

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Oct. 9, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 3 Virginia field hockey team (10-3, 4-0 ACC) travels to Richmond (7-5, 3-1 A-10) for a game on Friday, Oct. 10 at 5:30 p.m. before closing out the weekend hosting No. 17 Wake Forest (8-4,1-2 ACC) on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m. at Turf Field. Admission is free for all of Virginia’s regular-season home field hockey games.

Both games will have live stats through links posted on VirginiaSports.com. The Richmond game will also have live streaming video available through a premium service on RichmondSpiders.com.

The Cavaliers had a nine-game win streak snapped last Sunday with a 4-3 overtime loss against Ohio State. Despite the loss, Virginia remained at No. 3 in this week’s NFHCA Poll with North Carolina retaining its No. 1 ranking despite falling to UVa, 2-1, last Friday night. Virginia did fall from No. 3 to No. 8 in the latest RPI rankings released by the NCAA, with North Carolina also topping that list.

Virginia comes into the week as the only ACC team without a loss in conference play. With two conference games remaining on its schedule, UVa can secure at least a tie for the regular-season ACC title with a victory on Sunday over Wake Forest. If the Cavaliers defeat the Demon Deacons, Virginia should also secure the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament no matter the outcome of its ACC regular-season finale at Boston College on Oct. 24.

Virginia has twice finished as the ACC regular-season champion, winning the bragging rights in back-to-back seasons in 1997 and 1998.

Only one other team, Louisville, comes into the weekend with one conference loss. If Louisville and Virginia should both end the season with one ACC loss, Virginia would win the tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed and the lone bye in the seven-team tournament by virtue of the Cavaliers’ 3-2 overtime victory over the Cardinals this season. A Louisville loss on Saturday at Syracuse coupled with a Virginia victory over Wake Forest on Sunday would give Virginia the No. 1 seed and the solo ACC regular-season championship. Virginia could also earn the No. 1 seed and sole possession of the regular-season championship with victories over both Wake and BC regardless of the outcomes of Louisville’s final games. The ACC Tournament takes places Nov. 6-9 at Duke.

Virginia was predicted to finish second-to-last and Louisville last in the ACC preseason coaches’ poll voting.

Wake Forest upset No. 8 Boston College, 4-3, in overtime to secure its first ACC win of the season. Anna Kozniuk was named the ACC co-player of the week after scoring a pair of goals against the Eagles, including the game-winner. The Demon Deacons host No. 1 North Carolina in a non-conference game on Thursday night. Wake and UNC will play again on Oct. 25, with that game counting as a conference match-up.

UVa holds a 20-16 advantage in the all-time series against Wake, including winning each of the last three meetings.

Before hosting Wake Forest, Virginia will travel to Richmond to take on the Spiders, who are coming off their first conference loss of the season after dropping a 2-1 road contest at La Salle last Sunday (Oct. 5). Rebecca Barry leads the team with 11 points on four goals and three assists. Goalkeeper Kelley Wentling has only allowed 13 goals in nine games for a 1.88 goals-against average, while also boasting a .690 save percentage.

UVa holds a 33-4-1 record all-time against the Spiders, including winning each of the last eight meetings.

Virginia comes into the week ranked third in the nation in both goals per game, averaging 3.77, and points per game at 10.62.

Freshman midfielder Tara Vittese (Cherry Hill, N.J.) continues to pace the ACC in points per game at 2.62, the fifth-highest average in the nation. Vittese has contributed points in each of Virginia’s last eight games. Vittese has 12 points, on four goals with four assists, in UVa’s four ACC contests, a full point-per-game more than the next closest player, UNC’s Charlotte Craddock.

Sophomore striker Riley Tata (Virginia Beach, Va.) has scored 10 goals this season, eclipsing her rookie-season total of six. Tata has scored five of those goals in the last three games, including scoring the game-winner at North Carolina.

Sophomore striker Caleigh Foust (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) has also scored 10 goals this season, including all three overtime game-winners. Foust, Tata and Vittese are all tied for third in the ACC in goals per game at 0.77.

Senior goalkeeper Jenny Johnstone (Paisley, Scotland) collected her 300th career save against North Carolina, becoming the eighth player in Virginia history to reach that milestone. Johnstone has a career-best .743 save percentage this season, which is 23 points better than when she was named the All-ACC goalkeeper as a sophomore in 2012. Johnstone is second in the ACC with a 4.23 saves-per-game average.

Next weekend, the Cavaliers will play their final two regular-season home games of the year, hosting Liberty on Friday, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. and No. 19 Old Dominion on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 1 p.m. for the annual Senior Day game.