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Virginia Faces North Carolina on Sunday in the ACC Championship

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – 5-seed Virginia (12-7) will take on 3-seed North Carolina (12-6) in the championship match of the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championship on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 12 p.m. in Syracuse, N.Y.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

  • All games of the championship will be televised on the ACC Network and stream online on ACCNX through the ESPN app and is available through participating TV providers that carry ACCN
  • Live stats be available through the conference’s website
  • Links for both are posted on VirginiaSports.com

NOTING THE CAVALIERS

  • Virginia heads into the final having won five of its last six games, its only setback being the overtime loss to UNC
  • Virginia went 10-7 in the regular season. Four of those losses, including ones against conference opponents UNC and BC, came in overtime. The other three losses were by a one-goal margin, including a 1-0 loss to Louisville
  • Virginia has avenged two of its one-goal losses in the ACC Championship, topping BC and Louisville
  • The Cavaliers finished in a tie for fourth place in the ACC with Boston College, both having a 3-3 record. UVA is the No. 5 seed in the championship due to the 1-0 overtime loss to the Eagles in the regular season
  • Virginia has a balanced attack with 14 different players having scored at least one goal this season. There are only three players who have appeared in 10 or more games that do not have a goal or an assist this season
  • Virginia has had eight players score game-winning goals this season. Amber Ezechiels has three. Laura Janssen also has three, including both games in the ACC Championship
  • Grad student Rachel Robinson has scored two of Virginia’s three goals in the ACC Championship, including converting a penalty stroke against Louisville. She has three goals in the last four games
  • Junior forward/midfielder Laura Janssen scored the game-winning goal in the quarterfinal win against Boston College. She converted two penalty shots in the shootout, the very first to set the tone and the crucial sixth shot that won the game
  • Janssen and fellow Dutchwoman freshman Noa Boterman are tied for second on the team in goals with five apiece
  • Senior back Amber Ezechiels, another native of The Netherlands, leads the team in scoring but has yet to register a point in the Championship. She has scored seven goals this year after scoring eight in the previous three seasons combined
  • Ezechiels has a team-leading 18 points this season and 46 in her four-year career
  • Ezechiels has been named both the ACC Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 5) and the ACC Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 26) this season
  • She earned her third All-ACC honor this week, being named to the first team for the second time in her career
  • Senior midfielder Greer Gill ranks fifth in the ACC in assists per game (0.42). She had four assists and a goal in the last four games of the regular season
  • Freshman back Jans Croon is one of three players to have started every game this season
  • Grad student Makayla Gallen has started the last 66 consecutive games, a streak reaching back to her sophomore season. She has played in 98 games in a Virginia uniform
  • Gallen, who began her career as a forward, was moved to playing back in the spring of last year, a position she stayed with to start this season before being moved to striker for the Maryland game (Oct. 7) where she has played since
  • Senior Annie McDonough also has moved up to striker since the Maryland game. McDonough has scored two of her four goals since moving up from the midfield
  • Freshman goalkeeper Tyler Kennedy has started the last 15 games for the Cavaliers and has appeared as the team’s lone goalie in 11 of those contests. She has a .759 save percentage (2nd in the ACC) and a 1.19 goals-against average (3rd). She is averaging 3.33 saves per game
  • Thursday’s game against BC was her second shutout of the season
  • Friday’s game against Louisville was her first career shootout

ACC CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES

  • Virginia is looking for its second ACC title. The team won its only championship in 2016. That year, UVA was the 6-seed in the tournament, becoming the lowest-ever seed to win the ACC Field Hockey Championship
  • Virginia won the 2016 title with a 4-2 win against UNC after losing to the Tar Heels in the regular-season 3-2 in overtime
  • UVA has made the semifinals each of the last seven years, including 2017 when the team was the tournament’s No. 1 seed
  • This is Virginia’s eighth time playing in the championship game, Michele Madison’s third time playing for the title. She was the runner-up in 2009 in addition to the 2016 championship
  • This is the first time any of the players on the team have played for the title. The three fifth-years were part of the regular-season champion team in 2017

ON THE HORIZON

  • The 2021 NCAA Field Hockey Selection Show streams online on NCAA.com on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 10 p.m.
  • Virginia is looking to make its 25th trip to NCAA Championship and the 13th in head coach Michele Madison’s 16 seasons at Virginia

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