No. 14 Virginia Hosts No. 20 Duke Friday Evening

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 14 Virginia field hockey team (6-3, 1-1 ACC) returns to conference play when it hosts No. 20 Duke (4-5, 0-2 ACC) on Friday, Oct. 1 at 5 p.m. at Turf Field in Charlottesville, Va.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

• The game will stream online on ACCNX through the ESPN app and is available through participating TV providers that carry ACCN
• Live stats be available for the game
• Links for both are posted on VirginiaSports.com

NOTING THE CAVALIERS

• Virginia is in the midst of seven straight games against ranked opponents. After playing at No. 5 Louisville, at No. 24 Ohio State last weekend, at No. 16 Wake Forest and hosting No. 21 Old Dominion, Virginia hosts No. 20 Duke (4-5, 0-2 ACC) on Friday at 5 p.m.
• Virginia is trying to rebound after a 2-1 loss against No. 21 Old Dominion last Sunday. The Monarchs did all of their scoring in a 1:41 span in the fourth quarter
• UVA only had one penalty corner against ODU. The Cavaliers had 22 penalty corners in the Towson game, the most by any team in a single game this season
• Virginia dipped to No. 14 from No. 11 in this week’s NFHCA Coaches Poll. The Cavaliers have been ranked every week since the 2012 preseason poll
• Freshman goalkeeper Tyler Kennedy ranks second in the ACC and fifth in the nation in goals-against average (0.81)
• Kennedy is second in the ACC and 10th in the nation in save percentage (.800)
• Kennedy is putting up these numbers thanks to an impressive UVA backline as Kennedy is only having to make 2.5 saves per game
• Freshman back Jans Croon has started every game this season for the Cavaliers and has been a fixture in the backfield. She is one of just three Cavaliers to start every game this season
• Senior back Makayla Gallen scored her first goal of the year, the game-winner against the Buckeyes. The defender deflected in a shot from Cato Geusgens off a penalty corner. It was the first assist of the season for Geusgens, who is also a defender
• Laura Janssen, UVA’s leading scorer last season, scored her first goal of the year at Wake Forest. It was also a game-winner assisted by Geusgens
• Cato Geusgens, who made her delayed season debut against Louisville, has assisted on the game-winning goal in two of her three games this year (the third game was a loss)
• Senior back Amber Ezechiels scored UVA’s lone goal in the 2-1 loss against Old Dominion. It was Ezechiels second of the season (both off penalty corners). It pushed Ezechiels back into the points lead with nine on three goals and three assists
• Taryn Tkachuk scored her third goal of the season at Ohio State. She is now tied for second on the team in goals (3). She missed the first two games of the season recovering from an injury and only appeared in games three and four to come into the game to take a penalty stroke. She made her debut as a field player on Sept. 10 against Miami and made her first career start at Louisville
• Peyton Tollaksen leads the team in goals with four. Seventy-five percent of the shots she takes are on goal

NOTING DUKE

• Duke is looking for its first ACC win after falling 1-0 to Louisville and 3-1 to Wake Forest
• Duke is coming off a 3-1 win at William & Mary on Sunday. The Blue Devils scored two goals in a 1:17 span in the fourth quarter to record the victory
• Leah Crouse leads the team with seven points on three goals and an assist
• Goalie Piper Hampsch leads the ACC with 5.00 saves per game
• The Blue Devils are averaging a conference-low 1.22 goals per game. UVA averages 2.33
• Duke head coach Pam Bustin was an assistant coach for Michele Madison at Michigan State (1992-97)
• Duke snapped a streak of nine-straight losses in Charlottesville in the spring when they won 2-0 (3/5/21)
• Virginia leads the all-time series 38-22

ON THE HORIZON

• This is the lone game of the week for the Cavaliers
• Virginia continues its current four-game homestand when it hosts No. 7 Maryland on Thursday, Oct. 7 at 4 p.m.