Virginia Hosts Syracuse on Friday and Sunday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia field hockey team (1-1, 1-0 ACC) will play two matches this weekend against Syracuse (0-0, 0-0 ACC), beginning with a game on Friday, Oct. 2 at 3 p.m., and followed by a Sunday, Oct. 4 contest that begins at 12 p.m.

Due to health and safety considerations in addition to the current guidelines established for sports venues by the Commonwealth of Virginia, attendance at UVA home competitions is limited to family of student-athletes and each team’s coaching staff until further notice. There is no public admission to these events and all tailgating in University parking lots is prohibited. Gate will open 30 minutes prior to the game.

Broadcast Information

• Friday’s game will be televised on the ACC Network and stream online on ACCNX, which streams live through the ESPN app and is available through participating TV providers that carry ACCN
• Sunday’s game will stream online through ACCNX
• Live stats be available for both games
• Links for both are posted on VirginiaSports.com

About the Matches

• Friday’s game will count toward the Atlantic Coast Conference standings
• Sunday’s game is considered a non-conference contest
• Friday’s game is the season-opener for the Orange

Noting the Cavaliers

• Sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Henriksen (Falls Church, Va.) is this week’s ACC Defensive Player of the Week and the NFHCA Play Safe National Defensive Player of the Week
• Henriksen made nine saves on Saturday in what was just the second start of her career. She went on to pick up her first win and her first shutout in Sunday’s 1-0 victory
• She has an .857 save percentage through the first two games, tops in the conference
• Sophomore midfielder Adele Iacobucci (Malvern, Pa.) leads the team with three points on her goal and her assist. She also leads the team in shots with five
• Sophomore striker Laura Janssen (Nijmegen, Netherlands), one of the Cavaliers top goal scorers from last year, has two points on her game-winning goal on Sunday
• All eight of the Cavalier freshmen saw playing time in last weekend’s games
• Twin sisters Lilly and Meghen Hengerer (Bedminster, N.J.) were both in the starting lineup on Sunday. Lilly also started Saturday’s game. Anneloes Knol (Utrecht, Netherlands) started both games and has seen significant playing time, taking four shots

This Week’s Opponent

• Syracuse’s 2019 season came to an end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with a 5-1 loss to eventual national runner-up Princeton on Nov. 15. The Orange posted a 12-7 overall record and went 3-3 in the ACC earning the No. 4-seed in the ACC Tournament
• Charlotte de Vries and Laura Graziosi are Preseason All-ACC selections and the Orange were picked to finish sixth in the ACC and receieved one first place vote. de Vries and Graziosi were both honored as All-Region selections in 2019
• The Orange welcome a six-player freshman class which includes five international student-athletes, the most in a recruiting class in the last five years. Head coach Ange Bradley anticipates four freshman potentially starting in Friday’s season opener
• Virginia leads the all-time series, 7-3, and has won the last four match-ups
• UVA won last year’s meeting, 2-0, in Syracuse. It was Michele Madison’s 400th career victory
• Three of the last five meetings have been decided in overtime including the 2018 double overtime game in Charlottesville

On the Horizon

• The Cavaliers hit the road next week, playing a North Carolina on Sunday and Monday, Oct. 11-12. Both games begin at noon
• Sunday’s game is on the ACC Network and Monday’s game will be broadcast on the ACC Regional Sports Networks