Two members of the UVA field hockey team, junior midfielder Rachel Robinson (Mount Joy, Pa.) and sophomore back Amber Ezechiels (Niew-Vennep, Netherlands) have been named to the preseason All-ACC team, in honors announced Friday (Aug. 23) by the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Cavaliers have been predicted to finish third in a vote of the league’s seven head coaches. Defending national champion North Carolina have been selected to repeat as ACC champions with Duke earning one first place vote and finishing second. Virginia, with 29 points, is followed by Louisville (25), Syracuse (18), Boston College (17) and Wake Forest (16).
Robinson has been named to the Longstreth/NFHCA All-South Region second team in each of her first two seasons with the Cavaliers. She was a key component to last year’s defensive unit, making three defensive saves.
Ezechiels finished her rookie campaign with three goals and three assists for nine points. She was named the Synapse Sports National Rookie of the Week (10/24/18) after scoring a goal with two assists in games against Wake Forest and Maryland. She was a mainstay of the Cavaliers defense that tallied three shutouts last season.
ACC teams have won 19 of the 38 NCAA field hockey titles, including 12 of the last 17, and at least one ACC squad has advanced to the national championship game in 19 of the last 20 years. Four ACC teams earned bids to the 2018 NCAA Field Hockey Championship, marking the sixth consecutive year that the field included at least four ACC teams.
The ACC’s 2019 field hockey season officially gets underway Friday Aug. 30, when Virginia travels to take on Old Dominion. UVA’s home slate begins on Sunday, Sept. 1 when the Cavaliers host Penn State at 12 p.m.
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Chris Graham
