2019 ACC Field Hockey Championship Begins on Thursday

Live Stats | Watch on ACCNX | Game Notes | ACC Championship Website

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 4 Virginia field hockey team (15-3, 4-2 ACC) will be playing for a title this week in the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championship, being held Thursday through Sunday, November 7-10, at Boston College’s Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex in Newton, Mass.
 
Virginia, the No. 3 seed, opens play in a quarterfinal match-up against the No. 6 seed, Duke (13-6, 1-5 ACC) on Thursday (Nov. 7) at 5 p.m.
 
Broadcast Information

• The game will be televised on the ACC Network
• It will also stream as an ACCNX contest, available on the ESPN app and WatchESPN. ACCNX streams are available through participating TV providers that carry ACCN
• Live stats will also be available for the game
• Links for both are posted on VirginiaSports.com

 
ACC Championship

• Virginia finished in a tie for second place in the conference standings with Boston College, both of which had 4-2 ACC records, but the Eagles earned the No. 2 seed by virtue of their 1-0 victory over the Cavaliers during the regular season
• Virginia is looking for its second ACC title. The team won its first in 2016, the freshman year for this year’s senior class
• The champion of the tournament will receive the conference’s automatic bid into the 2019 NCAA Field Hockey Championships

 
Noting the Cavaliers

• The Cavaliers returned to the top-five this week, moving up to a season-best No. 4 ranking from last week’s No. 6. The Cavaliers spent two weeks at No. 5 earlier this season weeks two and three. This is the eighth-straight week UVA has been ranked in the top-10
• The Cavaliers head into the post season riding a seven-game win streak
• Seven of Virginia’s last eight games have all been decided by one goal, going 6-1 in that span
• Virginia won 15 games in the regular season, their highest regular-season tally since 2013
• Redshirt sophomore goalie Lauren Hausheer is eighth in the nation with a 1.01 goals-against average
• Hausheer is third in the ACC with a .735 save percentage
• Senior back Anzel Viljoen (Matamata, New Zealand) leads the team in points with 22 (six goals, 10 assists)
• Viljoen is third in the ACC with 0.56 assists per game. Sophomore midfielder Annie McDonough (Kennett Square, Pa.) is fourth at 0.47 per game
• Viljoen has scored a goal or had an assist in four of the Cavaliers’ last five games and five of the last seven contests
• Freshman back Cato Geusgens (Wassenaar, Netherlands) scored two goals against Wake Forest, her second multi-goal game of the year
• Freshman striker Laura Janssen (Nijmegen, Netherlands) scored two goals last week, netting both the game-winners against Liberty and Wake Forest. Janssen has been lauded as the Synapse Sports National Rookie of the Week for that performance

 
Last Week

• The Cavaliers picked up a 1-0 victory over No. 17 Liberty on Monday night and then closed the week with a 3-1 victory at No. 20 Wake Forest
• Janssen scored the game-winning goal with 2:28 remaining in regulation against Liberty, knocking in a pass from sophomore Peyton Tollaksen (Chesapeake, Va.) from a scrum in front of the goal. She also had the game-winner at Wake Forest
• The Liberty game was the sixth shutout of the season for Hausheer and the UVA defense
• Geusgens scored two goals against Wake Forest

 
Scouting Duke

• Duke is the No. 6 seed in the ACC Field Hockey Championship, but is ranked as the No. 5 team in the nation in the latest NFHCA  
• Virginia won the regular-season meeting in overtime, 3-2
• Viljoen tied the game with 1:02 remaining to force overtime. Sophomore back Amber Ezechiels (Niew Vennep, Netherlands) scored the game-winner 1:26 into the extra period
• Neither team scored in the first half
• All three of Virginia’s goals came off penalty corners
• Virginia leads the all-time series, 37-20
• Duke head coach Pam Bustin was an assistant coach for Michele Madison at Michigan State (1992-97)

 
 
On the Horizon

• The winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal will face either Boston College (the No. 2 seed and the tournament host) or No. 7 seed Wake Forest on Friday at 3:30 p.m. in the semifinals. That game will only stream online on ACCNX
• Sunday’s championship match will feature top-seeded North Carolina or 4-seed Syracuse or 5-seed Louisville. It will take place at 11 a.m. and will be televised on the ACC Network as well as streaming online through ACCNX
• The NCAA Field Hockey Championship Selection Show will stream live online on NCAA.com on Sunday, November 10 at 10 p.m.
• The field of 18 teams (10 automatic qualifiers and eight at-large teams) will be announced that evening
• First round match-ups will take place at four host sites on Friday, Nov. 15. Second round matches will be played at those same sites on Sunday, Nov. 17
• The semifinals and finals will hosted by Wake Forest Nov. 22-24 at Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.