GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Six ACC teams earned bids to the 2019 NCAA Field Hockey Championship, announced Sunday night by the NCAA Field Hockey Committee.
The league claimed five of the eight at-large spots in the 18-team tournament field, along with the automatic qualifier awarded to ACC champion North Carolina. Three of next weekend’s four first- and second-round host sites were awarded to ACC schools
UNC earned the No. 1 overall seed and will host first- and second-round games. Virginia earned the No. 3 overall seed and was also selected as host site, as was No. 4 seed Louisville. ACC runner-up Boston College, Duke and Syracuse also received at-large bids and will begin tournament play on the road.
The announcement marks the seventh straight year that at least four ACC teams have earned a postseason bid.
The Tar Heels (19-0) are making their national-best 36th tournament appearance in program history and 17th in a row, and will face the Stanford/Miami (Ohio) winner in the first round on Friday in Chapel Hill.
Virginia (16-4), winner of eight of its last nine matches, will make its 24th appearance the tournament when it plays host to Delaware (16-3) on Friday.
Louisville (15-5) will play host to Michigan (13-6) in first-round action. The Cardinals, back in the NCAA tournament after a one-year sabbatical, will take part in postseason play for the fifth time in six years and seventh time overall.
Boston College (13-7) will also be among the four-team field in Louisville and will take on Northwestern (14-7). The Eagles, winners of nine of their last 11 and coming off their best-ever ACC Championship showing, are appearing in the NCAAs for the 12th time.
Duke (13-7) earned its seventh-straight postseason appearance and 18th overall. The Blue Devils will also open play on Friday in Chapel Hill versus Big Ten champion Iowa (16-4).
Syracuse (12-6) is set for its 14th NCAA Tournament and has a first-round date versus Ivy League champ Princeton (13-4) in Storrs, Connecticut.
The six ACC teams in the NCAA Championship were all ranked in the nation’s top 12 in the most recent NFHCA Poll. Following No. 1 North Carolina are No. 4 Virginia, No. 5 Duke, No. 6 Louisville, No. 9 Boston College and No. 12 Louisville.
All six of the ACC teams selected for this year’s field also rank among the top eight of the latest RPI. The league combined to go 70-13 against non-conference competition during the regular the season, the best record of any conference.
The ACC currently has a streak of 30 straight years with at least one team in the NCAA semifinals. Thirty-eight of the last 64 teams to reach the national semifinals have come from the ACC.
Opening round games in this year’s NCAA tournament will be played on two campus sites Nov. 13. First- and second-round games will be played on four campus sites Nov. 15 and 17. Wake Forest University will host the semifinals and final Friday, Nov. 22, and Sunday, Nov. 24, at Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The semifinals and final will be streamed live on
NCAA.com. For ticket information visit
NCAA.com/tickets.
In 2018, North Carolina finished the season undefeated (23-0) while claiming its seventh NCAA Division I field hockey championship title with a 2-0 victory over the Maryland at Trager Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. UNC will carry an ACC-record 42-match winning streak into this year’s tournament.
The complete bracket can be found at
https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/fieldhockey/d1/2019
2019 NCAA Field Hockey Championship Schedule
Friday, November 15
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Noon - #1 North Carolina (19-0) vs. winner of Stanford (15-6)/Miami, Ohio (13-7)
2:30 p.m. - Duke (13-7) vs. Iowa (16-4)
Charlottesville Va.
Noon - #3 Virginia (16-4) vs. Delaware (16-3)
2:30 p.m. - Maryland (16-3) vs St. Joseph’s (17-3))
Louisville, Ky.
Noon - Boston College (13-7) vs. Northwestern (14-7)
2:30 p.m.- #4 Louisville (15-5) vs. Michigan (13-6)
Storrs, Conn.
Noon - #2 UConn (18-3) vs. winner of Fairfield (18-2)/American (13-5)
2:30 p.m. - Syracuse (12-6) vs. Princeton (13-4)