Top-Ranked Terp Field Hockey Team Hosts First Round Of NCAA Tournament
11/11/1999 7:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Nov. 11, 1999
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland (20-1) will host one of four regionals of the NCAA Tournament is was announced Wednesday. The No. 1-ranked Terps will play host to No. 18-ranked Lafayette at 11 a.m. Saturday. In the other first-round game at Artificial Turf Field, No. 7-ranked Old Dominion will play No. 10-ranked Virginia at 1:30 p.m. The winners will play at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Despite their No. 1 ranking in the NCAA and STX/National Field Hockey Coaches Association polls, the Terps received an at-large bid into the 16-team field. The ACC does not receive an automatic bid because it contains only five teams, one short of the requirement for an automatic berth in the newly expanded field. However, based on the strength of difficult schedules and non-conference success, all five ACC teams received at-large bids, with the Terps and No. 3 Wake Forest hosting regionals.
In previous championships, 12 teams were selected, with the top four seeds receiving first-round byes. This season, every team will play a first-round game.
"I think this is really important for the tournament," Meharg said. "It puts everybody on an equal playing ground physically and mentally."
The top four seeds host the regionals, with teams divided into the four-team mini-fields according to national rankings, victories and losses against nationally ranked opponents and geographic proximity.
The Terps, who are 10-1 against tournament teams, are hosting an NCAA tournament game for the third straight season. Despite having lost at home in the quarterfinals the past two seasons.
The Terps have not faced Lafayette since 1977, but they are very familiar with the other two teams in the regional. In the regular season the Terps split a pair of decisions with Old Dominion and defeated Virginia twice.
