For the second straight season, the Virginia Cavaliers have made it to the NCAA Field Hockey Final Four, after beating Princeton 4-2 this weekend. This is Virginia's fourth semifinals appearance, though the 'Hoos have never advanced to the Championship game. Head Coach Michele Madison has made the postseason in all five years that she's been at Virginia.
"We are absolutely thrilled to be advancing to the final four," said Madison. "It's something we have been working towards all season and to have it come to fruition is just wonderful. We could have played better but we did enough to win it."
As a testament to how tough the competition is for this squad, three of the four semifinalists hail from the Atlantic Coast Conference. No. 3 Virginia will play No. 2 North Carolina at either 2:00 p.m. or 4:30 p.m. on Friday, while the other side of the bracket sees No. 1 Maryland against unseeded Ohio State, who upset No. 4 Syracuse.
North Carolina has beaten Virginia twice this season already - once in the regular season, 3-2, and once in the ACC Tournament, 1-0 in overtime.