UVA earns #1 seed in ACC Field Hockey Championship

The UVA field hockey team (12-6, 4-1 ACC) has earned the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championships, as announced today (Nov. 25) by the conference office.

The Cavaliers, who tied for the regular-season title with North Carolina, enter the ACC Championship as the No. 1 seed for the first time since 1998. They will get a bye in the first round and play the winner of Louisville and Wake Forest on Friday, Nov. 7, at 1 p.m. Virginia has been ranked in the top-10 of the NFHCA Poll all season.

North Carolina (14-2, 4-2), which has been ranked at No. 1 in the NFHCA Poll for seven straight weeks, earned the No. 2 seed and will face No. 7 Duke (11-5, 2-4) at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6. The Blue Devils have also been ranked in the NFHCA Top 10 for the entire season, while both the Blue Devils and Tar Heels reached the semifinals of the NCAA Championship last year. North Carolina won the only meeting between the two teams, 1-0, on Oct. 17.

Boston College (12-5, 3-3), currently ranked No. 14 in the country, enters as the No. 3 seed and will face sixth-seeded and 10^th-ranked Syracuse (11-4, 2-4) on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 4 p.m. The Eagles defeated the Orange, 3-2, in overtime on Sept. 10.

The opening game of the tournament on Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. will feature No. 4 Wake Forest (10-6, 3-3) and No. 5 Louisville (13-4, 3-3). The Cardinals, who are making their ACC Championship debut, enter ranked No. 7 in the country, while the Demon Deacons are ranked No. 11. Louisville won at Wake Forest, 2-1, in overtime on Sept. 26.

The seven ACC field hockey teams have all been ranked for the entire season, and the ACC makes up half of the current NFHCA Top 10. The conference has combined to go 61-10 against the other leagues this season, the best mark in the nation, and has 17 wins against ranked nonconference opponents.

ACC fans will be able to watch all six games of the championship as they will be streamed live online on ESPN3 and available on the WatchESPN mobile application.

Single-session tickets are available for $5 for adults and $3 for youth, and all-session tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for youth. Students from an ACC school can enter for free with valid student identification.