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GAME NOTES

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech lacrosse team will open the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship against No. 1 seed and regular-season ACC champion North Carolina at noon on Thursday in Lane Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN3 and as well as the Regional Sports Network, check your local listings.

THE HOKIES

The Hokies are coming off a regular-season finale loss to No. 11 Virginia, 14-7 on Friday night.

Meghan Macera leads the team in draw controls (55), caused turnovers (37), ground balls (41) and is also second on the team with 27 goals and 31 points. Macera finished the regular-season second in the ACC and 14th in the NCAA in caused turnovers per game (2.18) and third in the ACC ground balls per game (2.41).

Kristine Loscalzo leads the team with 31 goals on the year and also has three assists. She has a team-high 74 shots total and 61 shots on goal. Tristan McGinley is second on the team with 49 draw controls on the year and has also scored 23 goals with a team-best seven assists.

As a team, the Hokies rank 26th in ground balls per game (18.24) in the NCAA and 22nd in caused turnovers per game (9.59). Goalkeeper Hannah Sieger finished fifth in the ACC in saves per game with 6.41.

UNC, who Tech is playing for the second time, is the 10th game overall the Hokies will play this season that will be against an opponent ranked at the time in the IWLCA Poll, including five teams in the top six.

Under Burker’s tenure as head coach, every ACC team the Hokies have faced has been ranked at the time.

THE TAR HEELS

North Carolina won the regular-season ACC Champion for the second-straight season. The Tar Heels won their last outing over No. 13 Duke at home, 16-8. Overall, UNC has won 10 games in a row, with their only two losses on the year coming by one goal to both No. 1 Maryland and No. 2 Florida.

The Tar Heels are meeting the Hokies for the second time this season after knocking off Tech 15-6 on March 30 in Chapel Hill, N.C. North Carolina was the only team in the ACC to escape conference play without a loss.

Molly Hendrick scored six goals and had an assist in that game to lead the Tar Heels. Ela Hazar also scored four goals and added an assist in the UNC victory.

The Tar Heels had six All-ACC selections had Molly Hendrix, Sammy Jo Tracy, Marie McCool and Mallory Frysinger on the first time. Aly Messinger and Caylee Waters were named to the second-team.

UNC beat the Hokies in the ACC Quarterfinals last season in Charlottesville.

Hendrix leads the Tar Heels with 44 goals and has 54 total points. Messinger has a team-high 22 assists and 23 goals. McCool leads the team with 34 ground balls while Tracy has a team-best 95 draw controls this season.

For updates on Virginia Tech lacrosse, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Lax