Oct. 29, 2007

• 2007 ACC Field Hockey Championship
• Championship Bracket

GREENSBORO, N.C. - After completing the 2007 regular season with a perfect 5-0 record in conference, and an 18-0 record overall, the North Carolina field hockey team enters the postseason as the ACC regular season champion and No. 1 seed in the league tournament. The Tar Heels, winners of 15 ACC titles since 1983, will begin their quest for a 16th this week at the 25th annual conference championship held in Newton, Mass.

The Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Tournament, hosted by Boston College, will begin this Thursday, November 1, and will run through Sunday, November 4. The tournament will be single elimination, with the first two games taking place Thursday at 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the Newton Campus Turf Field in Newton.

Game one will pit Boston College, the four seed, against fifth-seeded Virginia. During the regular season, both teams posted 1-4 records in league-play, and could be separated for seeding purposes only by goal differential in conference games. In their only head-to-head match up, the Eagles scored a 2-1 victory in a close game at Charlottesville, Va.

In Thursday's second game, the sixth-seeded Duke Blue Devils will face Wake Forest, the league's third-seed. During the regular season, the Demon Deacons (12-4, 3-2) took down the Blue Devils (11-7, 1-4) 4-2 in Durham, N.C. The Deacons, ranked third in the latest STX/NFHCA poll, enter the tournament riding a seven-game winning streak and will look to defend their title from a year ago.

The defending national champion Maryland Terrapins, who claimed the ACC's two seed with a 4-1 record in conference during the 2007 season, will take the field in Newton on Friday at 7:00 p.m. when they take on the winner of Thursday's second quarterfinal between Wake Forest and Duke. The Terps finished the season with a 17-1 overall record, including nine wins over ranked teams. Their only loss of the year was to the top-ranked Tar Heels on October 20.

North Carolina, currently occupying the No. 1 overall ranking in the country, will begin its drive to the title on Friday at 4:00 p.m. The winners of Friday's two semifinal match ups will enjoy a day-off on Saturday before their clash in the ACC championship game on Sunday, November 4, at 1:00 p.m.

All five ACC tournament games will be available for viewing throughout the week. Thursday's and Friday's games will be webcast live on www.ACCSelect.com, while Sunday's league championship showdown will be televised regionally on FSN South, Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic and New England Sports Network. Stats for each game will be updated live throughout the duration of the tournament on the ACC's official web site, www.theACC.com.