The Virginia women’s lacrosse team (9-8) opens play in the 2016 NCAA Championship First Round against Johns Hopkins (10-7) on Friday (May 13) at 4 p.m. in College Park, Md., at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.
Live stats will be available through links on Virginiasports.com. The game will be streamed live on the Big Ten Network Plus, which requires a subscription.
The winner of Friday’s game will advance to face No. 1 seed Maryland (19-0) in the second round on Sunday at noon.
This will be Virginia’s 29th overall trip to the NCAA Championship, ranking second in the nation with 59 tournament games played. The Cavaliers own a 34-25 record in NCAA Tournament games, tying for the second most wins in the nation behind Maryland. Virginia has won three NCAA titles (1991, 1993, 2004).
Virginia has earned an NCAA bid in each of the 21 seasons head coach Julie Myers has been at the helm. Last season, Virginia topped Winthrop, 18-6, in the NCAA first round before getting knocked out by Penn State, 13-11.
UVA is coming off a 9-8 loss to Duke in the ACC quarterfinals. Junior Posey Valis (Baltimore, Md.) finished with four goals and one assist in the game and has a team-best 40 points on the season (34 goals, six assists).
Senior Mary Alati (Glen Ridge, N.J.), sophomore Kasey Behr (North Port, N.Y.) and junior Maggie Preas (Baltimore, Md.) were named to the All-ACC Second Team.
Alati has been consistent across the field with eight goals, 15 assists, 35 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers. Behr has scored multiple goals in 13 games this season and has tallied 39 points (36 goals, three assists). Preas has totaled 23 ground balls, 34 draw controls and 15 caused turnovers on defense.
Virginia holds a 3-2 advantage all-time against Johns Hopkins. The Cavaliers won the only NCAA Championship meeting between the two teams, earning a 10-8 win on May 12, 2005 in the first round. Johns Hopkins won the most recent meeting, topping UVA 9-8 in Baltimore on April 11, 2013.
Johns Hopkins is averaging 11.06 goals per game, while holding its opponents to 8.24 goals per game. The Blue Jays closed the regular season with a 12-9 win over Boston College. Johns Hopkins has not played since that game on April 23. Dene’ DiMartino leads the team with 51 points (42 goals, nine assists) and has 93 draw controls. Goalie Caroline Federico is averaging 7.47 saves per game.
Tickets may be purchased in advance through the Terrapin Ticket Office located at the Comcast Center, online at umterps.com, or the day of the game at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex. For ticket information, call the Terrapin Ticket Office (301-314-7070). Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for youth (3-17) and seniors (62 & older).
Four quarterfinal games will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The winners of the four quarterfinal games will advance to the semifinals and final hosted by Saint Joseph’s University May 27 and29 at Talen Energy Stadium in Philadelphia.
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Chris Graham
