Women’s Lacrosse: No. 12 Virginia faces UAlbany to begin NCAA Tournament play

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 12 Virginia women’s lacrosse team begins play in the 2023 NCAA Tournament facing UAlbany in the first round on Friday at 8 p.m. ET (6 p.m. MT) at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium in Denver.

HOW TO WATCH

All the games will be streamed live on ESPN+ for authenticated subscribers. Links for the live stats and live stream are available on VirginiaSports.com.

AGAINST UALBANY

• Virginia (11-6) and UAlbany (11-6) are meeting for the first time in program history.
• The Cavaliers are 18-2 all-time against the American East conference. UVA is 18-0 against UMBC and 0-2 against New Hampshire in school history.
• This will be the first time Virginia has played an American East opponent since it last played UMBC in 2004.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY

• UVA ranks second in the nation with 70 NCAA Tournament games played. Virginia is 39-31 all-time in the tournament with the 39 wins tied for fourth-most all-time.
• Virginia’s 14 Final Four appearances rank second, only behind Maryland’s 27.
• The Cavaliers have won their last four first round games, having a bye in the first round in 2019, to advance to the NCAA Second Round in the last five NCAA Tournaments.
• In 2019, Virginia advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals after hosting the first and second rounds.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS

• Three players have moved into the UVA Top 10 in career stats this season.
• Junior Aubrey Williams became the all-time leader in draw controls at UVA, with 328 and counting. Williams surpassed previous record holder Maggie Jackson’s 301 in the win at VCU with her 15 draws. 15 also matches the most ever in a single game at UVA.
• Graduate student Ashlyn McGovern ranks in the top 10 in both goals and points. She is third all-time with 202 goals and eighth all-time with 221 points in her career.
• Junior Morgan Schwab is sixth all-time with 92 career assists. Schwab has 43 assists this season, tying Lindsay Sheehan’s third-year record of 43 set in 1985 and also ranks second all-time in a single-season.

SIX CAVALIERS NAMED TO IWLCA ALL-SOUTH REGION TEAMS

• Six members of the Virginia women’s lacrosse team were recognized by the IWLCA as part of the 2023 IWLCA All-South Region Teams, the organization announced on Thursday.
• Sophomore Rachel Clark, junior Mackenzie Hoeg and graduate student Ashlyn McGovern were selected to the First Team. Junior Maggie Bostain, junior Morgan Schwab and junior Aubrey Williams earned Second Team honors.
• Clark was recently named a US Lacrosse Magazine First Team All-American. The attacker leads the Cavaliers with 73 points on 60 goals and 13 assists. Clark’s 60 goals are 11th in the NCAA and she is 10th in the nation with 7.94 shots per game. Clark has scored multiple goals in 14 games with 12 hat tricks so far this season. She currently owns a team-best goal streak of seven games and has five game-winning goals for the Cavaliers.
• Also a US Lacrosse First Team All-American, McGovern balances Clark on the opposite side of the field on offense. She is second on the team with 59 goals and has six assists for 65 points. McGovern has scored at least one goal in all but one game this season. She has scored multiple goals in 15 games with 13 hat tricks. McGovern matched a career-high with seven goals in Virginia’s win over Clemson. She ranks 13th in the NCAA in goals per game (3.47).
• Hoeg has been a steady presence for UVA in the midfield. She leads the team and is fifth in the NCAA with a .627 shot percentage. Hoeg is fourth on the team with 37 goals. She leads the team with 26 ground balls, is second in draw controls (49) and third in caused turnovers (11). Hoeg has nine hat tricks this season and is second on the team with two game-winning goals. She scored a career-high five goals to lead UVA in the win at Pitt and also grabbed five ground balls and eight draw controls. She picked up a career-high 10 draw controls against Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament.
• Bostain earned second team honors as one of the top defenders for the Cavaliers this season. She leads the team with 18 caused turnovers and has 19 ground balls on the season. Bostain is a shutdown defender and often is tasked with handling the ball on clears and fastbreaks with a steady stick and quick feet. Bostain had a career-high four caused turnovers in the win over Duke and has multiple caused turnovers in five games.
• Schwab, a second team US Lacrosse Magazine All-American, is the quarterback for the UVA offense, often serving up assists from behind the net. She already has a career-high 43 assists this season and is tied for the second-most assists in a single-season by a Cavalier all-time. Schwab has multiple assists in 11 games, including three games with five or more assists. She has dished out seven assists in the last two games for Virginia, with three in the win over Virginia Tech and four against Notre Dame in the ACC Quarterfinals.
• Also a US Lacrosse Magazine Second Team selection, Williams has remained the steady presence on the draw for UVA. She ranks 10th in the nation with 7.65 draw controls per game. Williams has grabbed double-digit draw controls in five games, including a career-high 15 to make the most draw controls in a single-game for UVA. She has had at least six draw controls in 13 of the 17 games this season.

Women’s NCAA Tournament Bracket

UP NEXT

The winner of Friday’s game will play the winner of 5-seed Denver and USC on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET (1 p.m. MT).