No. 12 Virginia field hockey begins season with pair of road games

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 12 Virginia field hockey team opens the 2022 season with two road matches. The Cavaliers play at No. 11 Penn State on Friday at 5 p.m., and at No. 17 Delaware on Sunday at 1 p.m.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

• Friday’s match will be streamed on B1G+ (subscription required)
• Sunday’s match will be streamed on FloSports (subscription required)
• Live stats be available for the game
• Links are posted on VirginiaSports.com

NOTE FOR THOSE ATTENDING THE PENN STATE GAME

• The facility does not have stands this year. You will need to bring a lawn/stadium chair of your own or a blanket to sit on

NOTING THE CAVALIERS

• Friday kicks off the 50th season of Virginia field hockey. Field hockey was one of three women’s sports to begin at UVA in 1973-74 along with basketball and tennis
• The Cavaliers are No. 12 in the Preseason NFHCA Coaches Poll and were picked to finish fourth in the ACC Preseason Poll. They open the season with road games at No. 11 Penn State and No. 17 Delaware
• Virginia and Penn State have played one another opening weekend in an alternating home-and-home series every year since 2009 except the COVID-19 2020-21 season
• The Cavaliers will play four of the top-six teams in the NFHCA Preseason rankings, including a road game at the reigning NCAA Champions and preseason No. 1 Northwestern on Sept. 11. Thirteen of the 17 opponents on UVA’s schedule are ranked in the preseason poll
• Last season, Virginia advanced to the ACC Championship game, falling 1-0 against UNC in the final
• The Cavaliers earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship, their 25th trip to NCAA Championship in program history and the 13th in head coach Michele Madison’s 16 seasons at Virginia
• Virginia was 12-9 last season. Four of those losses, including ones against Penn State and Maryland, came in overtime. The other five losses were by a one-goal margin, including a 1-0 loss to North Carolina in the ACC Championship game and a 2-1 loss to Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Championship. Virginia avenged two of its one-goal losses in the ACC Championship, topping BC and Louisville
• Virginia had a balanced attack with 14 different players scoring at least one goal last season. Ten of those goal scorers are returning this season
• Adele Iacobucci, who was named to the Preseason All-ACC team, is a two-time NFHCA All-Region First Team honoree. She is the lone All-Region player returning for the Cavaliers
• Annie McDonough, who is coming back for her fifth year, was one of two Cavaliers to earn All-ACC honors last season. She was named to the second team
• Virginia returns four of its top-five point contributors from last season. Both Annie McDonough and Laura Janssen had 12 points apiece, ranking second on the team
• Laura Janssen and Noa Boterman were tied for second on the team in goal scoring with five apiece. Annie McDonough and Adele Iacobucci scored four goals apiece
• Second-year goalkeeper Tyler Kennedy returns to the cage after a stellar freshman campaign. Kennedy won the starting goalkeeper spot last season, moving into the starting position on Sept. 10. She appeared in 20 of UVA’s 21 games with 17 starts. She was second in the ACC with a .735 save percentage. She had a 1.23 goals-against average
• Virginia welcomes eight first-years and one grad transfer, giving the team nine newcomers
• Lindsay Dickinson graduated from UConn last year and is now enrolled in a graduate program at UVA. She is a member of the US Women’s Development Team. The back was a 2021 NFHCA Mideast Region Second Team, All-Big East Second Team and Big East All-Tournament team member
• Of the eight first years four were high school All-Americans (Sloan Davidson, Daniela Mendez-Trendler, Caroline Nemec, Madison Orsi) and two are from the Netherlands (Isabelle Roskott, Jet Trimborn)

NOTING PENN STATE

• Penn State is No. 11 in the Preseason NFHCA poll
• Penn State is coming off a 14-6 season that saw the team post a 6-2 mark in Big Ten games. The Lions earned a slot in the 2021 NCAA Tournament field but dropped an opening-round game
• Senior Mackenzie Allessie and junior Sophia Gladieux both return after being tabbed first-team All-Americans, All-Region and All-Big Ten last year. Gladieux was the Regional Player of the Year as well. Gladieux led Penn State with 38 points off 18 goals and two assists last season while Allessie checked in with 30 off nine and 12
• Penn State head coach Charlene Morett-Curtiss (39th season) ranks fourth among active coaches with 558 career victories. UVA head coach Michele Madison (34th season) is sixth with 431, giving the two coaches a combined 989 victories
• Penn State leads the all-time series 20-8. Penn State won last year’s meeting 3-2 in overtime

NOTING DELAWARE

• Delaware is No. 17 in the Preseason NFHCA Poll and picked to finish first in the CAA
• The Blue Hens have won the CAA in each of the last three seasons and were the 2016 NCAA Champions
• Reigning CAA Defensive Player of the Year and Tournament Most Outstanding Player Julia Duffhuis was voted the Preseason Player of the Year. She had 29 points on a team-best 13 goals and three assists last season
• Head coach Rolf van de Kerkhoff was Michele Madison’s assistant coach at Michigan State for seven years. He took over the head coaching duties of the Spartans when Madison came to Virginia. He has been at Delaware since December of 2010
• Virginia leads the all-time series 11-8-1. UVA won last year’s meeting 3-1

ON THE HORIZON

• Virginia has its home opener on Friday, Sept. 2, hosting Temple at 6 p.m. at Turf Field. It will be a homecoming for the Owls’ head coach and assistant coach, UVA alumna Michelle and Carissa Vittese