Virginia Begins ACC Championship Play on Friday

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Nov. 2, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia field hockey team (15-3, 5-1 ACC) begins competition at the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championship on Friday at 12 p.m. with a semifinal match against 5-seed North Carolina (13-4, 3-3 ACC) at Trager Stadium in Louisville, Ky.

The entire tournament will be broadcast to a national television audience on the channels of the ACC Regional Sports Networks. The games will also be streamed live online on the ESPN3/WatchESPN platforms (subject to local blackout). Live stats will be available through the ACC Tournament Central website with links to all of these amenities posted on VirginiaSports.com.

Virginia comes into the tournament ranked No. 4 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Coaches Poll. The Cavaliers have been ranked in the top-10 all season. North Carolina is No. 6 in this week’s poll.

Virginia, the top seed in the tournament, is looking for its second straight ACC title. Last year’s title was the first in program history. This is the fifth time that UVA has been the top seed in the tournament, and the first time since 2014. Virginia won the ACC Championship last season as the No. 6 seed, the lowest-seeded team to ever win the title, scoring a tournament-record 13 goals over three games played. The top-seeded team has won the ACC Championship 22 times.

The Cavaliers won three of the four ACC postseason honors that were announced this week. Senior midfielder Tara Vittese (Cherry Hill, N.J.) repeated as the offensive player of the year. Vittese was also named first team All-ACC, making her just the 14th player in the 35-year history of the conference to be a four-time honoree. Vittese comes into the tournament with 193 career points, vying to become the eighth player in conference history to tally 200 points.

Midfielder Pien Dicke (Den Haag, Netherlands) was named the ACC Freshman of the Year, the sixth Virginia player to earn the honor. Dicke been ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation in goals per game this season and currently ranks fourth at 1.17 per game. She is second in the ACC in both goals per game and points per game (2.67).

Head coach Michele Madison was voted the ACC Coach of the Year, her first time earning the honor. Madison’s team has been one of the top-ranked offenses in the nation all season. The Cavaliers are currently second in goals (4.78), points (13.22) and penalty corners per game (9.61) as well as scoring margin (+3.39) while ranking third in assists per game (3.67). UVA has led the ACC all season in goals, points, and penalty corners per game as well as scoring average and scoring margin.

Friday’s game against North Carolina will be the seventh top-10 match-up of the year for the Cavaliers. Virginia has victories this season over then-No. 1 Duke, No. 7 Syracuse, No. 7 Louisville and No 8. Boston College, but falling to then-No. 7 Penn State and No. 6 North Carolina.

In the regular-season game against North Carolina, the Tar Heels shut out Virginia, 4-0. North Carolina scored in the final seconds of the first half and then added three more goals in the second to snap a UVA nine-game win streak.

Last season, Virginia and North Carolina met in the ACC Championship final with UVA picking up the 4-2 victory.

The winner of Friday’s semifinal will face the winner of the second semifinal in the championship match on Sunday, Nov. 5 at 1 p.m.

Ticket Information: Single-session general admission tickets may be purchased at the gate located at the north entrance of Trager Stadium (near the track). Ticket prices are set at $5 for adults. Youth under the age of 18 and ACC students with valid student identification will receive free admission.

Parking: Event parking will be available only in the Floyd Street Parking Garage ($5 fee). Please use the entrance on Floyd Street (directly across from the Don Fightmaster Playground).