No. 12 Virginia Hosts No. 8 Maryland, No. 14 Boston College

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 12 Virginia field hockey team (7-3, 2-1 ACC) hosts two ranked opponents to close out its current homestand, taking on No. 8 Maryland (7-4, 1-3 Big Ten) on Thursday, Oct. 7 at 4 p.m. and No. 14 Boston College (7-3, 0-2 ACC) on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 1 p.m.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

• Both games 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 games
• Links for both are posted on VirginiaSports.com

NOTING THE CAVALIERS

• Virginia is in the midst of seven straight games against ranked opponents. This week, they will host No. 8 Maryland on Thursday and No. 14 Boston College on Saturday
• Senior back Amber Ezechiels is this week’s ACC Player of the Week. She scored two goals in the Duke game, the first goal of the game and the game-winner 1:42 into overtime
• This is Ezechiels’ second career ACC Player of the Week honor, but the first time winning the offensive accolade
• Ezechiels now leads the team in scoring with five goals. She ranks fourth in the ACC with 0.62 per game
• Ezechiels also leads the team in points with 13 points (five goals, three assists), five more points than Peyton Tollaksen who ranks second (four goals)
• Ezechiels 1.62 points per game rank fourth in the ACC
• Ezechiels has had three goals in the last two games. She started the season by having a goal or an assist in each of the first four games
• Back Makayla Gallen has scored two goals this season, the game-winner at Ohio State and the game-tying goal against Duke
• Gallen has scored her two goals on just five shots
• Thursday’s game will be Gallen’s 91st career game. She has started 82 of her 90 games since her freshman season (2017) including 57 consecutive starts
• Greer Gill leads the team in assists with four
• Gill has had an assist in each of the last three games
• Nine different Cavaliers have scored goals this season and 15 players have contributed at least one goal or an assist
• Annie McDonough, Makayla Gallen and freshman Jans Croon are the only players to start every game this season
• Freshman goalkeeper Tyler Kennedy ranks ninth in the nation in goals-against average (1.00). She is third in the ACC with a .767 save percentage
• Lauren Hausheer relieved Kennedy in the cage during the fourth quarter of the Duke game. Despite the late substitution, Hausheer still managed to play over 30 minutes, picking up the win

NOTING MARYLAND

• Maryland is coming off back-to-back losses, but both were close games against top-five opponents, a 3-1 loss to No. 4 Northwestern and a 2-1 loss to No. 1 Iowa
• The Terps are No. 9 in the country and No. 5 in the Big Ten in goals per game (3.18). They are No. 6 in the nation in assists (2.82) and fourth in the conference
• Bibi Donraadt leads the team with 19 points (seven goals, five assists)
• Goalkeeper Noelle Frost has a 2.50 goals-against average and a .660 save percentage
• UVA assistant coach Alyssa Parker played for the Terrapins (2012-15), earning All-Region honors her junior and senior seasons
• Former ACC foe Maryland leads the all-time series 42-22-2
• Virginia won the last meeting, a 1-0 overtime thriller that sent the Cavaliers to the NCAA Semifinals (11/17/19)

NOTING BOSTON COLLEGE

• BC is coming off a shoot-out loss last Sunday against No. 21 UMass
• BC had been ranked as high as No. 3 in the NFHCA Coaches Poll after starting the season 6-0. The Eagles have gone 1-3 since then, including conference losses to Syracuse (3-1) and UNC (6-1)
• This will be the first game of the week for the Eagles, who will play at Richmond on Sunday
• Milagros Arteta, Fusine Govaert and Sarah Johnson each have 12 points this season. Arteta has a team-high six goals while Johnson leads the team with four assists
• UVA leads the all-time series 15-11
• Virginia won the last meeting in the spring, 1-0

ON THE HORIZON

Virginia will have its rematch with Old Dominion on Sunday, Oct. 17 in N