Virginia Faces Michigan in NCAA Championship First Round
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (13-4) opens play at the 2024 NCAA Field Hockey Championship by taking on Michigan (15-4) on Friday, Nov. 15 at 3:30 p.m. ET at Northwestern’s Lakeside Field in Evanston, Ill.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- The game will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required)
- Live stats are available (links posted on VirginiaSports.com)
VIRGINIA QUICK NOTES
- Virginia is making its 28th appearance in the NCAA Championship, earning one of eight at-large bids to the tournament
- The Cavaliers are looking to advance to the semifinals for the second straight year and for the seventh time in program history (1997-98, 2009-10, 2019, 2023)
- Virginia has made the NCAA Tournament in eight of the last nine years, only not making the field during the 2020-21 COVID season
- Virginia is one of five ACC schools to make the tournament with the ACC earning four of the eight at-large bids
- This is the second time in three years that UVA will be playing in a regional hosted by Northwestern. The Cavaliers were in Evanston in 2022 where they fell in a shootout against Iowa in the first round
- Virginia is ranked No. 8 in the NFHCA poll and Michigan is No. 6, but Virginia is the higher seeded team in the tournament and will be the home team in the game
- Michigan comes into the tournament on a four-game win streak. The Wolverines defeated three teams in the Big Ten tournament that they had lost to in the regular season, including a 1-0 victory against previously undefeated Northwestern in the championship match
- Virginia and Michigan last faced one another in the first round of the 2016 NCAA tournament, with UVA winning 2-1 in University Park, Pa.
- Virginia is 4-2 all-time against Michigan
ON THE HORIZON
- The winner will advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals where they will take on 2-seed Northwestern (19-1) or Miami University (14-7) on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 2 p.m. ET