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No. 4 Virginia Faces No. 10 Delaware in NCAA Championship First Round

Printable Bracket | Parking Map | Facebook Live Video Stream | Live Stats | Game Notes | NCAA Bracket

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 4 Virginia field hockey team (16-4, 4-2 ACC) will open play at the 2019 NCAA Field Hockey Championship by hosting No. 10 Delaware (16-3, 6-0 CAA) on Friday, Nov. 15 at 12 p.m. at Turf Field in Charlottesville.
 
No. 3 Maryland (16-3, 7-1 Big Ten) will face No. 14 Saint Joseph’s (17-3, 8-0 Atlantic 10) in the second game of the day that will start at approximately 2:30 p.m.
 
Broadcast Information

  • All of the games of the Charlottesville Regional will stream on Facebook Live
  • Live stats will also be available for the game through NCAA.com
  • Links for both are posted on VirginiaSports.com

 
Tickets and Parking Info

  • All seats at the Turf Field for the games will be general admission with tickets priced at $5. Students also must pay $5 for tickets to NCAA field hockey events. Children under two are free. If a child has celebrated their second birthday they must have a paid admission. Tickets will only be available for purchase on the day of game and sales will be cash only
  • Free parking is available at the Emmet/Ivy Garage
  • There will be a $5 parking fee at the John Paul Jones Arena South lot and the McCue Center lot
  • Due to a concert on Friday night at John Paul Jones Arena, the South lot and the McCue Center lots must be vacated by 5:30 p.m.

 
NCAA Championship

  • Virginia is the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Championship field
  • This is the Cavaliers’ 24th trip to the NCAA Championship and the 12th in head coach Michele Madison’s 14 years at Virginia
  • This is the seventh time that NCAA First and Second Round matches have been played in Charlottesville
  • It is Virginia’s third time hosting NCAA Championship first and second round matches since 2012, however, it is the first time the Cavaliers have been a national seed since 2010. Virginia hosted in 2017 when North Carolina was the No. 4 seed but its new stadium was still under construction. Virginia hosted in 2012 when Princeton was the No. 4 seed but the state of New Jersey was not able to host NCAA championship events
  • This is the fifth time that the Cavaliers have been a national seed. UVA was the No. 3 seed in 1997, 1998 and 2010 and the No. 2 seed in 2009
  • Virginia is looking to make its fifth trip to the NCAA Semifinals after making back-to-back trip in 1997 and 1998 and again in 2009 and 2010
  • Virginia has lost to Princeton each of the last three years in the NCAA Championship, twice in the first round and on a last-second goal in the 2016 quarterfinals
  • Virginia’s last time hosting was in 2017 and was a double-overtime loss to Princeton in the first round
  • Virginia’s last postseason game against Delaware was in 2015, a 4-3 overtime victory in Durham. UVA was edged 2-1 in overtime by Duke in the quarterfinals

 
Noting the Cavaliers

  • The Cavaliers head into the postseason  having won eight of their last nine games. The only loss was falling in overtime to Boston College, 1-0, in the semifinals of the ACC Championship
  • Virginia won 15 games in the regular season, their highest regular-season tally since 2013
  • Redshirt sophomore goalie Lauren Hausheer (west Windsor, N.J.) is sixth in the nation with a 1.00 goals-against average
  • Hausheer is third in the ACC with a .740 save percentage
  • Senior back Anzel Viljoen (Matamata, New Zealand) leads the team in points with 23 (six goals, 11 assists)
  • Viljoen is third in the ACC with 0.55 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 five of the Cavaliers’ last seven games and six of the last nine contests
  • Freshman Cato Geusgens (Wassenaar, Netherlands) has a team-high eight goals. She has scored three goals in the last three games
  • Head coach Michele Madison comes into the NCAA tournament with a 199-100 record at Virginia. Her next win will be her 200th in her 14 years with the Cavaliers
  • The Cavaliers remained at No. 4 in the final NFHCA Coaches’ Poll, despite being the No. 3 seed in the tournament. Maryland is the No. 3-ranked team, but is not among the top-four seeds in the championship
  • Friday’s game against No. 10 Delaware will be the Cavaliers’ eighth game this season against a team in the top-10
     

Conference Honors

  • Junior defensive midfielder Rachel Robinson was named to the first team while two more defenders, sophomore Amber Ezechiels and senior Anzel Viljoen were named to the second team.
  • All three players have anchored a defensive unit that has logged six shutouts this season and helped propel the Cavaliers’ to a 15-3 record and a No. 4 ranking in the NFHCA Coaches’ Poll
  • The trio have also been contributors to the Cavaliers’ offense as well, especially on penalty corners. Robinson has three goals and three assists for nine points this season, including scoring the game-winner in the 2-1 victory over Penn State. Ezechiels scored her first goal of the season in overtime of the 3-2 regular-season victory over Duke. Viljoen has had a breakout senior campaign, leading the Cavaliers in points with 22 on six goals with 10 assists. She was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 22 after scoring the game-tying goal against Duke and the game-winner at Miami (Ohio)
  • Both Robinson and Ezechiels had been named to the 2019 Preseason All-ACC Team. Robinson has twice been named to the Longstreth/NFHCA All-South Region Second Team, but this is her first time earning All-ACC honors
  • Junior striker Makayla Gallen (Glen Mills, Pa.) and sophomore midfielder Greer Gill (Virginia Beach, Va.) were named to the ACC All-Tournament Team

 
 
Scouting Delaware

  • Virginia leads the all-time series, 9-8-1, but has lost the last two meetings including a 2-0 meeting last year at Delaware
  • Lotte de Koning is the reigning Play Safe Turf & Track/NFHCA Division I Offensive Player of the Week. She scored four goals in the semifinal win over JMU and scored the first goal of the game in the CAA Championship final against Northeastern. She was named the CAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Performer
  • Delaware head coach Rolf Van de Kerkhof was Michel Madison’s assistant coach at Michigan State (1999-2006) before taking over as head coach when she departed for Virginia

 
On the Horizon

  • The winner of Friday’s Round of 16 games will face one another in the quarterfinal match being held on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 1 p.m.
  • The semifinals and finals will hosted by Wake Forest Nov. 22-24 at Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.

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