CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Virginia has been chosen as the favorite to win the 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championship following a vote of the league’s nine head coaches. The reigning national semifinalists were picked as the ACC favorite by four coaches and earned the top spot in the preseason poll after totaling 76 points.
The Cavaliers will be led by first-year head coach Ole Keusgen. The new head coach served as the Cavaliers’ acting head coach from the final week of the regular season to the team’s run to the NCAA Championship semifinals last season.
The league also unveiled its 2024 Preseason All-ACC Team, consisting of 15 student-athletes, including one goalkeeper, selected by the league’s head coaches.
The new-look ACC features nine field hockey programs this season with the addition of California and Stanford.
Defending back-to-back national champions North Carolina also garnered four first-place votes but finished one point behind the Cavaliers and in second place. The Tar Heels have won each of the last seven ACC Championships. Duke claimed the final first-place vote and finished with 63 total points to sit third in the preseason poll. Like Virginia and North Carolina, Duke made a run to the NCAA Championship semifinals in 2023.
Louisville and Syracuse tied for fourth in the poll with 46 points each, while Boston College finished sixth with 40 points. Both the Cardinals and the Orange made trips to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals during the 2023 season. Wake Forest was picked seventh with 29 total points while ACC newcomers Cal and Stanford tied for eighth place in the preseason rankings, tallying 15 points apiece.
The 2024 ACC Field Hockey season will begin on Friday, August 30, with Stanford, Syracuse and Wake Forest sharing the opening timeslot of 3 p.m. ET. Duke and Virginia will take the pitch at 4:00 p.m. ET, while Boston College will come on at 5 p.m. Louisville and North Carolina will play in the evening slots with both contests getting underway at 6 p.m. Cal will begin its first season as ACC members on Sunday, September 1, at 4 p.m. ET against Michigan State. The full ACC field hockey schedule can be
found HERE.
ACC Field Hockey Preseason Coaches Poll
1 – Virginia (4), 76
2 - North Carolina (4), 75
3 – Duke (1), 63
T-4 – Louisville, 46
T-4 – Syracuse, 46
6 - Boston College, 40
7 - Wake Forest, 29
T-8 – California, 15
T-8 – Stanford, 15
(First-place votes)
Preseason All-ACC Team
Eva Kluskens, Boston College, MF
Peyton Hale, Boston College, M
Alaina McVeigh, Duke, F
Charlie van Oirschot, Duke, M
Paige Bitting, Duke, M/B
Aimee Plumb, Louisville, M
Katie Dixon, North Carolina, M/B
Ryleigh Heck, North Carolina, F
Sietske Brüning, North Carolina, M/B
Willemijn Boogert, Syracuse, M
Daniela Mendez Trendler, Virginia, M
Jans Croon, Virginia, B
Noa Boterman, Virginia, M
Tyler Kennedy, Virginia, GK
Mia Schoenbeck, Wake Forest, B/M
*15 players on the Preseason All-ACC team due to ties in the voting