May 16, 2001

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The NCAA semifinalist and ACC champion Maryland field hockey team announced a challenging fall schedule for 2001. The Terrapins begin their quest for a fourth-consecutive conference title and a seventh-straight national tournament berth on Saturday, Aug. 5, when the season begins against Cal-Berkley.

In all, nine of Maryland's regular season matches will be played against teams that finished the 2000 season in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Top 20. Eight of those contests are against participants in last season's NCAA tournament, while the Terps will face the three other national semifinalist teams in at least one meeting.

After a three-game West Coast trip opens 2001 for head coach Missy Meharg's squad, the Terps travel to Norfolk, Va., for their first of two season match-ups with the defending national champion Old Dominion Monarchs. Maryland's non-conference nemesis visits the Artificial Turf Facility in College Park on Oct. 14.

The Terps' perennially rigorous ACC slate opens with a home meeting against Wake Forest on Sept. 22. Virginia comes to town on Sept. 30, while the Terrapins travel to Duke on Oct. 6 and to national finalist North Carolina on Oct. 20. Four out of the five ACC field hockey squads were 2000 NCAA tournament participants and finished among the top 10 in the NFHCA poll.

Other highlights include the fifth annual Terrapin Invitational from Sept. 7-9, and Maryland's yearly tilts with No. 6 Princeton and No. 15 James Madison on Sept. 28 and Oct. 26, respectively. The Terrapins take on Meharg's alma mater, Delaware, for the 26th time in school history on Oct. 24, while the 2001 ACC Championships will be held Nov. 1-4 in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Maryland's complete 2001 schedule is available by clicking here. Click here to see last season's final NFHCA Top 20.

Contact: Mark Fratto
301-314-7064 (phone)
301-314-9094 (fax)
301-314-TERP
fratto@wam.umd.edu