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Women's lacrosse ACC Tournament Preview

Maryland enters their final ACC Tournament as the number one seed. The Terps will be looking for their sixth consecutive championship and eleventh overall to match the number of their regular season titles. Here's a look at the entire field.

USA TODAY Sports

The 2014 ACC women's lacrosse Tournament gets underway at 11:00 am Thursday April 24 at Alumni Stadium on the campus of Boston College. For the first time in the 18-year history of the event, the tournament has a full complement of quarter final teams and no team will receive a bye.

The Maryland Terrapins enter the tournament as the top seed for the eleventh time. The Terps have won ten ACC Tournament titles including the last five. In the Tournament's opening game, Maryland will face off against the eighth seeded Virginia Tech Hokies.

In other matchups, fourth seeded Duke will take on the fifth seed the Virginia Cavaliers. Following that game, second seeded Syracuse will play seventh seeded Notre Dame. Thursday's final contest will feature the host school and sixth seed Boston College Eagles and the number three seed and defending national champions, the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Some intriguing questions hover over this tournament. Can the top seeded Terrapins win their eleventh ACC Tournament title? Or will the defending national champion Tar Heels win their first ACC title in over a decade? Can a very good Boston College team hold serve on their home field? Or will upstart newcomer Syracuse continue their hot play and crash the party. Here's some information to help you decide.

(8) Virginia Tech Hokies vs. (1) Maryland Terrapins

Virginia Tech Snapshot: The Hokies closest ACC game was a five goal loss to Virginia.

Maryland Snapshot: The Terps have two losses in the last two years both to coming at the hands of UNC by a total of three goals.

Featured Players for the Hokies

Megan Will, Jr., Attack, #35 - Leads the Hokies with 45 goals and 17 assists and takes nearly one of every four Virginia Tech shots.

Meg Bartley, Jr., Attack, #19 - Tech's second leading scorer with 34 goals. Won't create her own shot but will look for space on passes from Will and Julia Heaps.

Julia Heaps, R-Sr., Attack, #26 - Third leading scorer with 31 goals and 13 assists. Connects on nearly 69 percent of her shots.

Featured Players for the Terrapins

Taylor Cummings, So., Midfield, #21 - One of three Terrapins with 44 goals on the season. Leads team with 83 draw controls, 26 ground balls, 23 caused turnovers. Second in assists with 21.

Brooke Griffin, Jr., Attack #11 - Second 44 goal scorer for Maryland. Makes nearly 70 percent of her shots.

Kelly McPartland, Jr., Midfield # 6 - Third 44 goal scorer. Also leads team in assists with 25.

Tale of the Tape:

On the Season Head to Head
Maryland Virginia Tech Maryland Virginia Tech
Season Record 15-1 7-9
ACC Record 6-1 0-7
Streak W 3 L 4
Computer Rating 1 46
Total Goals For 256 183 22 12
Toal Goals Against 135 229 12 22
Goals for Average 15.06 11.44 N/A N/A
Goals Against Avg 7.94 14.31 N/A N/A
Ground Balls 240 244 15 8
Opp. Ground Balls 227 273 8 15
Draw Controls 273 216 20 15
Opp. Draw Controls 148 225 15 20
Turnovers 188 207 7 11
Caused Turnovers 128 115 9 4
Clearing % 90.60% 85.40% 92.31% 81.80%
Opp. Clearing % 77.20% 83.10% 81.82% 92.30%

(5) Virginia Cavaliers vs. (4) Duke Blue Devils

Virginia Snapshot: The Cavaliers only loss in their last 6 games was 13-8 to Maryland in College Park.

Duke Snapshot: The Blue Devils have lost two of their last three. Their only win was 7-6 overtime borefest at UNC.

Featured Players for the Cavaliers

Courtney Swan, Jr., Attack, #7 - Leads UVA in goals and assists with 48 and 21 respectively. Shoots 57 percent. Has 82 draw controls.

Liza Blue, Sr., Attack #9 - Virginia's second leading scorer with 44 goals.

Liz Colgan, Sr., GK # 28 - Leads ACC with 11.94 saves per game. Has a 46.1 save percentage.

Featured Players for the Blue Devils

Kerrin Maurer, Jr., Attack #9 - Leads Duke in goals 47 and assists 25. Makes 58 percent of her shots. Scored winning goal in upset of UNC.

Kelsey Duryea, So. GK, #25 - Averages 7.2 saves per game. 42.2 save percentage.

Tale of the Tape:

On the Season Head to Head
Duke Virginia Duke Virginia
Season Record 9-6 9-7
ACC Record 3-4 3-4
Streak W 1 W 1
Computer Rating 13 12
Total Goals For 202 227 16 11
Toal Goals Against 149 190 11 16
Goals for Average 13.47 14.19 N/A N/A
Goals Against Avg 9.93 11.88 N/A N/A
Ground Balls 234 278 21 23
Opp. Ground Balls 217 269 23 21
Draw Controls 204 235 16 13
Opp. Draw Controls 175 211 13 16
Turnovers 176 193 13 16
Caused Turnovers 121 111 11 6
Clearing % 83.20% 78.80% 80.00% 60.00%
Opp. Clearing % 77.60% 81.90% 60.00% 80.00%

(7) Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. (2) Syracuse Orange

Notre Dame Snapshot: The Irish have lost four of their last five and will play Syracuse for the second time in a week.

Syracuse Snapshot: The Orange have won nine straight since their only loss of the season to Maryland on March 10.

Featured Players for the Fighting Irish

Courtney Fortunato, Fr., Attack, #15 - Leads Irish in goals with 41 and assists with 13.

Margaret Smith, Sr., Midfield, #22 - Tops in ground balls (52) and draw controls 37

Featured Players for the Orange

Kayla Treanor, So., Attack # 21 - Leads ACC with 58 goals. Shoots 50 percent. Second on team with 27 Assists

Alyssa Murray, Sr. Attack #1 - 40 goals and 30 assists (leads team) on the season. Makes 55.6 percent of shots.

Kailah Kempney, Jr., Attack, #3 - Team leading 81 draw controls.

Tale of the Tape:

On the Season Head to Head
Syracuse Notre Dame Syracuse Notre Dame
Season Record 15-1 9-7
ACC Record 6-1 2-5
Streak W 9 L 2
Computer Rating 2 18
Total Goals For 247 192 18 10
Toal Goals Against 132 167 10 18
Goals for Average 15.44 12.00 N/A N/A
Goals Against Avg 8.25 10.44 N/A N/A
Ground Balls 268 346 15 17
Opp. Ground Balls 231 280 17 15
Draw Controls 248 183 22 8
Opp. Draw Controls 159 206 8 22
Turnovers 225 237 18 14
Caused Turnovers 143 162 5 8
Clearing % 84.20% N/A 93.30% 77.80%
Opp. Clearing % 70.90% N/A 77.80% 93.30%

(6) Boston College Eagles vs. (3) North Carolina Tar Heels

Boston College Snapshot: The Eagles four losses this season have come by a combined six goals.

North Carolina Snapshot: The most potent offense in the ACC, the Tar Heels scored only 20 goals in their three losses.

Featured Players for the Eagles

Mikaela Rix, Jr. Midfield, # 17 - Eagles leading scorer with 47 goals on 55 percent shooting.

Sarah Mannelly, So. Midfield, #6 - 53 percent shooter has scored 40 goals.

Covie Stanwick, Jr., Attack, #8 - Eagles most balanced threat with 36 goals and 32 assists.

Featured players for the Tar Heels

Abby Friend, Sr., Attack, #18 - 53 goals leads UNC. Shoots 56.4 percent

Sydney Holman, Fr., Attack, #10 - Leads Tar Heels in assists with 27. Fourth leading goal scorer with 31.

Aly Messinger, So. Attack, #27 - Second leading scorer with 39 goals. Shoots 54.9 percent

Tale of the Tape:

On the Season Head to Head
North Carolina Boston College North Carolina Boston College
Season Record 13-3 12-4
ACC Record 5-2 3-4
Streak W 1 W 2
Computer Rating 3 5
Total Goals For 257 215 14 13
Toal Goals Against 144 152 13 14
Goals for Average 16.06 13.44 N/A N/A
Goals Against Avg 9.00 9.50 N/A N/A
Ground Balls 317 203 9 10
Opp. Ground Balls 264 175 10 9
Draw Controls 237 227 14 16
Opp. Draw Controls 195 168 16 14
Turnovers 182 171 10 10
Caused Turnovers 130 97 5 6
Clearing % 84.90% 87.30% 90.90% 90.90%
Opp. Clearing % 71.70% 75.60% 90.90% 90.90%