Virginia Hosts Princeton on Saturday in NCAA First Round

Nov. 9, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 5 Virginia field hockey team (15-4) will take on No. 11 Princeton (11-6) on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Field Hockey Championship at University Hall Turf Field in Charlottesville, Va.

No. 4 North Carolina (16-4) will face No. 15 Saint Joseph’s (18-3) on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at Turf Field.

The winner of Saturday’s matches will meet in the quarterfinals on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Each of this weekend’s games will be streamed live on the internet on Facebook Live on the Virginia Cavaliers Facebook page. Live stats will be available through NCAA.com.

This is the 22nd trip to the NCAA Championships for the Cavaliers and their 10th in head coach Michele Madison’s 12 seasons at Virginia. Virginia is looking for its first national title and first trip to the NCAA semifinals since 2010. Charlottesville has been a host site for the NCAA Tournament five times, most recently in 2012.

Virginia, the ACC regular-season champion, won three of the four conference postseason honors. 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 1.11 per game.

Senior back Nadine de Koning (Laren, Netherlands) is tied with Vittese for the ACC lead in assists per game (0.74), which ranks ninth in the nation. Junior midfielder Greta Ell (Plains, Pa.) is in the top-10 in the conference in both goals (12) and points (24) this season.

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 (4.53), assists (3.47), points (12.53) and penalty corners per game (9.63) as well as scoring margin (+3.0).

Princeton clinched the outright Ivy League championship, its 25th all-time, and the Ivy’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, going 7-0 in league play. It’s the 22nd time that the Tigers have made the tournament. The last time that the Tigers did not play in at least the NCAA Play-In Game was in 2004. Ryan McCarthy was honored as the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, while Maddie Bacskai was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. Julianna Tornetta as selected as the Ivy Co-Rookie of the Year while Carla Tagliente earned Coach of the Year accolades.

Virginia and Princeton last met in the 2016 NCAA quarterfinals when the Tigers scored a last-second goal to advance to the semifinals. Princeton and Virginia also met in the 2012 NCAA quarterfinals in Charlottesville, with the Tigers winning 5-2 en route to capturing the National Championship that season.

North Carolina won the 2017 ACC title after defeating Louisville, 1-0, in the title game. The Tar Heels are making their 15th NCAA appearance in a row, the 34th in program history. UNC is the No. 4 seed in the field, a spot that would generally host games. (The top four seeds in the bracket host.) However, the Tar Heels are without a home stadium this season while a new facility is under construction, and thus were not able to serve as a host site. Virginia and North Carolina have met twice this season with the Tar Heels shutting out UVA 4-0 in both games.

Saint Joseph’s is making its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after winning its first A-10 title in 22 years. The Hawks defeated two-time defending champion UMass, 3-2, in double overtime in the title match. Saint Joseph’s is ranked 15th in the latest Penn Monto/NFHCA Coaches Poll, marking the highest-ever ranking in program history and extends the Hawks’ run in the poll to nine consecutive weeks. Head coach Lynn Farquhar also nabbed Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year accolades for the second consecutive season. SJU also placed five on the All-Conference First Team, two on the Second Team, three on the All-Rookie Team, and two on the All-Academic Team.

Duke, Michigan and Connecticut will serve as the other three host sites for the first- and second-round games. The winner of each site will advance to the NCAA semifinals on Nov. 17 in Louisville, Ky. The NCAA Championship game will take place on Nov. 19 at the University of Louisville.

At least one ACC team has reached the national semifinals in 28 straight years and at least one ACC team has reached the national championship game in 18 straight years and in 27 of the last 30 seasons. An ACC team has won the national championship 18 times, including 11 of the last 15.

Ticket Information: All seats at the Turf Field for the games will be general admission with adult tickets priced at $5 and Student/Youth tickets priced at $3. Tickets will only be available for purchase on the day of game and sales will be cash only.

Parking: There will be a $5 parking fee on Saturday in the Cage Lot, University Hall lot, John Paul Jones Arena lot, and the McCue Center lots. Free parking is available at the Emmet-Ivy Garage. On Sunday, there will be a $5 parking fee in the Cage Lot. Free parking is available at the University Hall and McCue Center lots, as well as the Emmet-Ivy parking garage.