Maryland Ranked No. 1 in Preseason Field Hockey Poll
8/24/1999 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Aug. 24, 1999
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland field hockey team is ranked No. 1 in the Sports Illustrated for Women Preseason Top 10. The Terps are ranked ahead of No. 2 Old Dominion, the defending national champion, and ACC nemesis North Carolina, which begins the season ranked No. 3.
Maryland opens the 1999 season as it plays host to Virginia Commonwealth this Sunday at 1 p.m. The Terps have won each of their last three season openers. They travel to play Old Dominion in an early-season match-up of Nos. 1 and 2 on Sept. 4. Maryland faces No. 3 North Carolina on Oct. 23 in Chapel Hill.
Head coach Missy Meharg, who was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 1998, returns for her 12th season as Maryland's all-time winningest coach. She has a career record of 164-67-9.
Maryland is scheduled to face four of the teams ranked in the preseason top 10. In addition to Old Dominion and North Carolina, the Terps will travel to play No. 5 James Madison (Oct. 5) and play host to Virginia (Oct. 2).
Maryland returns eight starters, all of whom are sophomores or juniors. Leading the way for the Terps are junior midfielder Carla Tagliente and junior forward Keli Smith, both of whom earned All-America honors last season. Tagliente, who led the Terps last season with 17 goals and 41 total points, was named to the first team. Smith, who was second on the Terps with 10 goals, was named to the second team. Smith was also named to the All-ACC team.
Rank Team 1998 Record 1. Maryland 16-6 2. Old Dominion 23-2 3. North Carolina 13-8 4. Connecticut 12-6 5. James Madison 14-9 6. Penn State 18-5 7. Michigan 15-6 8. Virginia 18-5 9. Northeastern 14-8 10. Duke 10-10
