Aug. 16, 1999

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Head coach Missy Meharg, the 1998 Atlantic Coast Conference field hockey Coach of the Year, welcomed eight returning starters to practice on Aug. 12 in preparation for the Terps' Aug. 29 season opener against Virginia Commonwealth. The Terps (16-6-0 in 1998) won the ACC championship and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament last season. Maryland begins its schedule with its annual Red/White intra-squad scrimmage on Aug. 27. The team opens its regular season at home against Virginia Commonwealth on Aug. 29 at 1:00 p.m. The Terps will follow a schedule of morning and afternoon practices over the course of the next two weeks in preparation for the season. Maryland has won seven of the last eight regular season openers and eight of 10 during the decade of the 90s.

Tagliente Finds a Silver Lining
Junior Carla Tagliente (Cortland, N.Y.) helped lead the U.S. Field Hockey team to a silver medal in the recently complete Pan Am games in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Tagliente started one game (Aug. 1 against Mexico) and scored two goals (July 31 against Cuba and Aug. 4 against Argentina) as the United States recorded a 5-2 record during the competition. Tagliente scored one goal in the gold medal game as the U.S. fell to Argentina, 5-2. Argentina earned an automatic bid the 2000 summer Olympics. The U.S. will continue its quest to qualify for the 2000 Summer Olympics when it travels to Milton Keynes, England for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament March 23-April 2, 2000. Terps' assistant coach Kate Kauffman (West Lawn, Pa.) and former Terp Christine DeBow (West Chester, Pa.) joined Tagliente on the U.S. team. Tagliente was a member of the U.S. team in 1997 and an alternate in 1998. Kauffman has been on the team for four year while DeBow has been a member of the squad for three years.

Quartet of Terps Plays For U.S. Under-20 Team
Juniors Lindsay Gorewitz (Rockville, Md.), Molly Kauffman (West Lawn, Pa.) and Keli Smith (Selinsgrove, Pa.) and sophomore Autumn Welsh (Macungie, Pa.) enjoyed a successful summer as member of the U.S. under-20 team. They combined to help the U.S. to a third place finish in the Four Nation Tournament that was held in Union, N.J. in early July. The U.S. squad finished third behind India and England. The team then played a five-game series against the Canadian Under-20 team in Brandon, Manitoba.

Terps News And Numbers
Maryland has won more than 75 percent of its games (68-22, .755) in the last four years ... head coach Missy Meharg is the winningest field hockey coach in school history with a 164-67-9 record (.702) ... six Terps who played on the U.S. Under-20 team at various times during the 1999 calendar year ... current team members Lindsay Gorewitz, Molly Kauffman, Keli Smith Autumn Welsh traveled with the team this summer while Dina Rizzo (Walpole, Mass.) and incoming freshman Carissa Messimer (Mountaintop, Pa.) have also been on the squad this year ... junior Carla Tagliente scored 17 goals to lead the Terps last season ... her 17 goals during the 1998 season is tied for the seventh-best single-season total in school-history ... Tagliente has scored more goals during her first two seasons (36) than Maryland's all-time leading goal scorer, Lisa Buente, scored during her first two seasons ... Buente scored a school-record 70 goals from 1987-1990.

MARYLAND SCHEDULE & RESULTS
(0-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0 ACC)
A29  Va. Commonwealth 1:00 p.m.
A31  American 7:30 p.m.
S4   at Old Dominion 1:00 p.m.
S5   at Richmond 2:00 p.m.
S10  ^ vs. Boston University 7:00 p.m.
S12  at Massachusetts 1:00 p.m.
S15  Towson  7:30 p.m.
Terrapin Invitational
S18  Maryland vs. G'town 11:00 a.m.
S18  Ball St. American 1:00 p.m.
S19  Maryland vs. Ball St. .1:00 p.m.
S19  G'Town vs. American 3:00 p.m.
S21  Delaware 7:30 p.m.
S25  * Wake Forest 1:00 p.m.
S29  * at Duke 7:00 p.m.
O2   * Virginia 1:00 p.m.
O5   at James Madison 7:30 p.m.
O9   Rutgers Noon
O10  Radford 1:00 p.m.
O15  Princeton 7:00 p.m.
O17  Old Dominion 1:00 p.m.
O23  * at North Carolina 1:00 p.m.
N4-7 at ACC Tournament TBA
N13-14 NCAA Tourn. 1st/2nd Rds TBA
N19-21 NCAA Final Four TBA
^  Game Played at Amherst, Mass.
*  ACC game

FINAL 1998 ACC STANDINGS
           ACC Overall
Teams        W L T       W L T
Virginia     4 0 0       18 5 0
Maryland     3 1 0       16 6 0
N. Carolina  2 2 0       13 8 0
Wake Forest  1 3 0       11 9 0
Duke         0 4 0       10 10 0

1999 Notes
Nine Terp field hockey players were named to the 1998-99 ACC Academic Honor Roll ... Kasey Heiser, Carla Tagliente, Emily Ward and Ellen Wolf were all named to the NFHCA National Academic Squad following the 1998 season ... Tagliente scored a team-high four game wining goals in 1998 ... The Terps have played Virginia Commonwealth, their opening day opponent, only once before ... Maryland defeated the Rams, 1-0, on Oct. 21, 1983 ... Junior Molly Kauffman's 16 assists in 1998 is tied for the fifth best single-season effort in school-history ... Sophomore Autumn Welsh was the 1998 ACC Rookie of the Year ... Junior Keli Smith earned All-America second team honors as she scored a career-high 10 goals in 1998 ... Senior goalie Zoe Erlich has recorded 5.5 career shutouts.