CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Following first-round victories in the 2026 NCAA Field Hockey Championship, No. 8 national seed North Carolina and Duke will represent the Atlantic Coast Conference in the tournament’s second round on Sunday, November 15.
 
Duke 3, No. 7 Iowa 2 (OT)
Duke struck first against No. 7 national seed Iowa, as Ashley Stockdale opened the scoring with her seventh goal of the season to give the Blue Devils an early 1-0 advantage. The Hawkeyes found the equalizer early in the second quarter, sending the teams into halftime deadlocked at 1-1.
 
Stockdale struck again early in the third quarter, finishing off a feed from Alaina McVeigh for her second goal of the afternoon and eighth of the season to put Duke back in front, 2-1. Iowa answered five minutes later to level the match once again, and the 2-2 score held through the remainder of regulation to send the contest to overtime.
 
Just over four minutes into extra time, Madison Beach delivered the game-winner to send the Blue Devils into the NCAA Championship second round. Beach weaved through the Iowa defense before firing a backhanded shot from the left side of the cage past the goalkeeper for her second game-winning goal of the season.
 
Duke will face No. 2 national seed Maryland in College Park, Maryland, on Sunday, November 15, at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
 
No. 8 North Carolina 1, Miami (Ohio) 0
North Carolina grabbed the lead midway through the opening quarter when Dani Mendez recorded her second goal of the season. The fifth-year standout redirected a feed from Morgan O’Donnell in front of the cage and poked it past the goalkeeper to give the Tar Heels an early 1-0 advantage.
 
Mendez’s tally proved to be all North Carolina needed, as the Tar Heels’ defensive unit shut out Miami (Ohio) to secure a 1-0 victory and a spot in the second round.
 
North Carolina limited the MAC champions to just one shot and one penalty corner in the opening half and to six shots for the match. Goalkeeper Tessa Shahbo made three saves to preserve the clean sheet, including a pair of crucial stops in the fourth quarter.
 
North Carolina will face top-seeded Northwestern in the second round on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+ in Evanston, Illinois. Two of the nation’s premier programs, the Tar Heels and Wildcats will meet in the NCAA Championship for the fifth time in six seasons, with three of those previous matchups coming in the national semifinals or championship match.
 
No. 5 Princeton 4, Syracuse 0
Syracuse saw its season come to an end with a 4-0 setback to No. 5 national seed Princeton in the opening round of the NCAA Championship.
 
The Orange conclude the season with a 12-7 record after capturing the program’s first ACC Championship.