2009 ACC Field Hockey Championship Bracket Announced

Oct. 31, 2009

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championship bracket was announced today, with top-ranked Maryland and second-ranked North Carolina holding the top two seeds in the three-day tournament. The Championship will be held on November 5, 6, and 8 in Charlottesville, Va., with the championship game being broadcast live by the league’s regional sports network.

Maryland (18-0, 5-0 ACC) earned the top seed in the Championship for the second time in the last three years—and the sixth time overall—and will receive a first-round bye. The Terrapins, who were the preseason No. 1 pick by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association and maintained that ranking throughout the season, posted a perfect 5-0 record in conference play during the regular season and finished their schedule with an 18-0 record for the first time in school history.

North Carolina (16-1, 4-1 ACC) will also receive a first-round bye. Since 1983 when the field hockey championship began, the Tar Heels have held one of the top two seeds in all but five years (1998-99, 2001, 05-06).

Fourth-seed Wake Forest (11-5, 2-3 ACC) and fifth-seed Boston College (13-5, 1-4 ACC) will get the Championship underway with a 1 p.m. game on Thursday, November 5. That game will be followed by a 3:30 p.m. tilt between third-seed and Championship host Virginia (16-2, 3-2 ACC) and sixth-seed Duke (9-9, 0-5 ACC).

The Wake Forest/Boston College winner will advance to the semifinal round to play the Terps at 4 p.m. on Friday, November 6, while the Virginia/Duke winner will meet the Tar Heels in a 6:30 p.m. matchup. The winner of each semifinal game will get a day off on Saturday, and meet on Sunday, November 8 at 12 p.m. to determine this season’s ACC champion and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

North Carolina won the first nine championships and 16 overall in the 26-year history of field hockey in the ACC. Maryland trails with seven league championships, and Wake Forest has three. However, Maryland (2008), North Carolina (2007), and Wake Forest (2006) have each won championships in the last three seasons.

The ACC champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where league teams have historically had great success. League teams have captured 14 of 26 NCAA titles since 1983, including the last seven in a row (Wake Forest, 2002-04; Maryland, 05-06; North Carolina, 07; Maryland 08). Since the conference expanded to include Boston College in 2005, five of the league’s six teams have earned berths in the NCAA Tournament in each season, while four of the then-five league teams were included on the national bracket in 2003 and 2004. Overall, the NCAA championship game has been an All-ACC affair eight times.

The ACC’s regional sports network (RSN-TV) includes FSN South, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, and the New England Sports Network.

More information on ACC field hockey can be accessed by visiting theACC.com. All 2009 ACC Field Hockey Championship information can be found on the official championship website, www.theacc.com/championships/09-fh-championship.html.