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Women’s lacrosse: Virginia opens NCAA tourney against Elon

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The No. 13 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (11-8) begins play in the 2017 NCAA Championship first round on Friday, May 12, against No. 20 Elon (13-6) at 5 p.m. at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, N.C.

uva lacrosseThe game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra and can be viewed through ESPN3 or the WatchESPN app. Links for the stream, as well as live stats, are available on VirginiaSports.com.

The winner of Friday’s contest will advance to play No. 2 seed North Carolina on Sunday, May 14 at 1 p.m.

This is UVA’s 30th appearance in the NCAA tournament, ranking second nationally with 60 tournament games played. Virginia is 34-26 all-time in the NCAA Championship. The 34 wins is tied for third-most with Princeton. UVA has won three NCAA titles (‘91, ‘93, ‘04). Virginia has advanced to the second round three of the last four years, including a trip to the NCAA Final Four in 2014. The last time UVA made it to the Final Four, the Cavaliers advanced past North Carolina in the quarterfinals in Chapel Hill.

The Cavaliers are coming off a 15-12 loss to Syracuse in the ACC Championship semifinal after topping Louisville 13-12 in overtime of the quarterfinals. Virginia has been led in goals by a different play in each of the last three games. Sophomore Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) leads the team with 66 points (36 goals, 30 assists), while senior Kelly Reese (Severna Park, Md.) in the top goal-scorer with 40. ACC Freshman of the Year Sammy Mueller (Pelham, N.Y.) is third with 35 goals.

This will be just the second meeting all-time between Virginia and Elon, both coming this season. The Cavaliers opened the season against the Phoenix on Feb. 11. UVA was down 10-7, but mounted a comeback with three-straight goals to tie the game at 10-10 with just over six minutes remaining. The Cavaliers had the ball, but a shot clock violation gave it back to Elon with 20 seconds to play. The Phoenix converted a free position shot with one second on the clock to take the win.

Elon is making its first appearance in the NCAA Championships. The Phoenix fell to James Madison, 15-7, in the CAA Finals on Sunday, May 7. Elon averages 11.16 goals per game, while allowing just 9.21 goals per contest which ranks 16th in the nation. Stephanie Asher leads the CAA and ranks 18th in the nation with 58 goals, averaging 3.05 per game. Asher scored five goals in the regular season meeting with UVA. Goalkeeper Rachel Ramirez leads the CAA with 144 saves to average 7.58 saves per game. Ramirez also leads the team with 62 ground balls and 33 caused turnovers.

Tickets for the NCAA First and Second Rounds can be purchased in advance through the North Carolina Ticket Office, online at goheels.com, or the day of the game at Fetzer Field. For ticket information call the Tar Heel Ticket Office at (919) 962-2296.

Four quarterfinal games will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The winners of the four quarterfinal games will advance to the semifinals held at Gillette Stadium in Boston, Mass., May 26 and 28.

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