2020 ACC Field Hockey Championship Preview

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia field hockey team (3-6, 2-3 ACC) is the four-seed in the seven-team field of the 2020 ACC Field Hockey Championship, being held Nov. 5-8 in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Virginia opens the tournament by taking on fifth-seeded Wake Forest (3-7, 2-4) in a quarterfinal matchup on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. The winner of that contest will advance to face top-seeded Louisville (7-1, 5-1 ACC) on Friday, Nov. 6 at 1:30 p.m.

The 2020 ACC Field Hockey Championship will not be open to the public, but the ACC Network will carry all tournament action live, with Eric Frede handling play-by-play and Leah Secondo returning as color analyst.

Broadcast Information

• All of the games of the championship will be televised on the ACC Network as well as streaming through ACCNX, via the ESPN app, available through participating TV providers that carry ACCN
• Live stats will also be available

ACC Championship

• Virginia is looking for its second ACC title. The team won its first championship in 2016. That year, UVA was the six seed in the tournament, becoming the lowest-ever seed to win the ACC Field Hockey Championship
• Last season, the Cavaliers made the ACC semifinals, falling to host Boston College, 1-0, in overtime. Makayla Gallen and Greer Gill were named to the 2019 All-Tournament team
• The championship was originally slated to be played at Syracuse this season, but was changed to being hosted by Duke when the abbreviated fall conference schedule was announced in August. Last week, the venue was changed from Duke to North Carolina

Noting the Cavaliers

• The Cavaliers closed out the fall portion of the schedule with a 2-0 loss at Duke last Saturday, the first time this season that the Cavaliers failed to score a goal in a game. UVA suffered two shutouts last season, both were 1-0 losses to Boston College
• Sophomore striker Laura Janssen (Nijmegen, Netherlands) leads the team in goals scored with five, and has scored a goal in three of the last five games
• Janssen’s five goals is tied for third-most in the ACC. Her 10 points is also tied for third
• Janssen leads the team in shooting efficiency, scoring her five goals on 12 shots (.417), nine of those attempts were on goal
• Junior back Amber Ezechiels (Niew-Vennep, Netherlands) leads the team in assists with four. She is in a six-way tie for second in the ACC in that stat
• Ezechiels also has scored two goals this season, both in the 3-2 double overtime victory over Syracuse. Her eight points ranks second on the team
• The Virginia goalkeeping tandem of Lauren Hausheer (West Windsor, N.J.) and Taylor Henriksen (Falls Church, Va.) lead the ACC with a combined 49 saves this season. Syracuse has the second-most saves with 32

Noting Wake Forest

• The Demon Deacons head into the championship after closing out the fall campaign with a 6-2 victory at Boston College last Sunday
• Virginia and Wake Forest (3-7, 2-4) split their two games this season with Wake winning the non-conference contest, 2-1, and UVA taking the ACC game 1-0
• Wake Forest has played the most games this fall (10) while UVA has played the second-most (9)
• The two teams have the two lowest goals-per-game averages in the ACC with Wake at 1.40 and UVA with 1.22 per game
• The Demon Deacons have a conference-low .563 save percentage. UVA’s goalies are stopping 71.0 percent of the shots they face
• Virginia leads the all-time series 27-19 and had won six-straight in the match-up prior to its loss in this year’s opener

Noting Louisville

• Louisville enters the ACC tournament as the top seed for the first time since joining the league in 2014
• The Cardinals’ 5-1 tally in conference play marks the most single season ACC wins in program history
• The Cardinals quest for a perfect fall season was spoiled last Friday when they suffered a 2-1 loss to Syracuse
• Louisville swept the season series with a 5-2 victory and a 2-1 win in Charlottesville
• Virginia leads the all-time series 8-5