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No. 10 Virginia Cavaliers (4-1, 1-0 ACC) vs Michigan State Spartans (3-3, 0-0 Big Ten)
Date and Time Sunday, Sept. 10, 11 a.m.
Location Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va. | L.R. Hill Sports Complex
Media Live Stats
Additional Information 2017 Season Stats | 2017 Fact Book (.pdf)
Social Media Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Sept. 9, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 10 Virginia field hockey team (4-1, 1-0 ACC) takes on Michigan State (3-3, 0-0 Big Ten) in a neutral-site contest at Old Dominion’s L.R. Hill Sports Complex in Norfolk, Va., on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 11 a.m.

Live stats will be available through a link on VirginiaSports.com. Admission is free.

Virginia is coming off a 4-1 victory over No. 1 Duke on Friday night. The victory was the second time in program history that the Cavaliers upset the top-ranked team in the nation and the first time since edging No. 1 Maryland in 2001, 3-2, in penalty shots.

The Cavaliers picked up the victory in front of one of the largest crowds in Turf Field history, with 1,209 people in attendance. The previous largest crowd in the last 10 years were the 704 people in attendance last year at the Rutgers match.

Senior midfielder Tara Vittese (Cherry Hill, N.J.), last week’s Longstreth/NFHCA National Offensive Player of the Week and ACC Offensive Player of the Week, continued her tear by scoring two goals against Duke. Through five games, Vittese has 35 points, nearly matching her year-end total from the 2015 season when she tallied 39 points en route to earning the first of her two NFHCA National Offensive Player of the Year honors. Vittese has four multiple-goal games this season, including scoring three hat tricks, and has contributed at least three points in each contest.

Freshman back Rachel Robinson (Mount Joy, Pa.) scored her first collegiate goal against Duke. The Cavaliers have three true-freshmen in the starting lineup, all of whom have scored at least one goal this season. In addition to Robinson, freshman midfielder Pien Dicke (Den Haag, Netherlands) began her career by scoring a hat trick in her first collegiate game, the season-opener against Fairfield. Freshman midfielder Makayla Gallen (Glen Mills, Pa.) scored her first collegiate goal in the win over Columbia.

Robinson’s sister, Amanda, is a junior back for Michigan State.

All three of Michigan State’s losses have come against ranked opponents including losses to then-No. 25 Pacific (4-0 loss) and No. 21 American (1-0 loss). On Friday night, the Spartans dropped a heartbreaker at No. 25 Old Dominion with the Monarchs scoring the game-winning goal with 11 seconds remaining in regulation. Two of the three victories for the Spartans have come in overtime, including one victory in double overtime.

Sunday will mark the seventh meeting between MSU and Virginia, with UVA owning a 4-2 record in the series. The last time the two squads met was on Sept. 7, 2012, with the Cavaliers picking up a 2-1 double overtime victory in East Lansing.

Virginia head coach Michele Madison was the head coach at Michigan State from 1993 through 2005, compiling a 155-116-2 mark while leading the Spartans to four NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the Final Four.

The Cavaliers, who play nine of their first 10 games of the season at Turf Field, return home on Friday, Sept. 15, hosting William & Mary at 5 p.m., followed by a Sunday contest against Richmond.

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