COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The reigning NCAA Champion field hockey team earned the second seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament which begins this weekend, the Association announced on Tuesday night. The Terrapins will host the first and second rounds of the tournament on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 11 and 12, with Richmond, Penn State and North Carolina visiting College Park in their bids for the championship title.

"We are really pleased to get a home site. It will give us time to recoup, relax and get prepared for the upcoming tournament," said five-time national coach of the year Missy Meharg. "Three great teams are coming to College Park. We know Richmond well... they play a great brand of hockey. Both Penn State and UNC are championship-caliber teams. We are looking forward to the competition."

Maryland (19-2) will be looking for its second-straight NCAA Tournament title after winning the crown last year. The Terps have won four national titles altogether but never back-to-back championships. They will be making their 20th postseason appearance and the 19th NCAA Tournament appearance since the inception of the program in 1974. The Terrapins made one appearance in the AIAW national tournament in 1979.

The Terps host 17th-ranked Richmond (17-4) in the first round at 11 a.m. The five-time Atlantic-10 champion Spiders defeated Lock Haven in the play-in game earlier on Tuesday to earn their fifth-consecutive trip to the postseason tournament.

In the second game, the ACC's North Carolina (13-8), ranked eighth in this week's National Field Hockey Coaches Association Coaches poll, takes on sixth-ranked Penn State (15-5) at 2 p.m. The Terps defeated the Tar Heels during the regular season, 1-0, and UNC reached the semifinals of the ACC Tournament last weekend after upsetting Duke, who is the fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament. Penn State lost in the championship game of the Big Ten Tournament.

Sunday's second-round matchup pits the winners of both first-round games at 2 p.m. The winners of all second-round matchups move on to the national semifinals at Kentner Stadium on the campus of Wake Forest University. Semifinal action will take place on Nov. 17 with the championship being decided on Nov. 19.

Tickets for the first and second rounds at College Park will be available for purchase through the Comcast Center Ticket Office beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 8. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students, children and seniors.

Because the Maryland football game vs. Miami is slated for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, a limited number of spaces will be reserved for Saturday's field hockey tournament in Lot 4i, adjacent to the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex. Once parking is full, cars will be directed to the Terrapin Trail Garage. Lots open at 9:30 a.m. and there will be a $10 for parking fee at every on campus lot. An online campus parking diagram is available at www.parking.umd.edu/themap.

Parking is free on Sunday.

For more information, log onto the Maryland athletics web site at www.umterps.com.

NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST & SECOND ROUNDS
Saturday, Nov. 11
11 a.m. • #2 seed Maryland (19-2) vs. Richmond (17-4)
2 p.m. • Penn State (15-5) vs. North Carolina (13-8)

Sunday, Nov. 12
2 p.m. • Second Round game

-TERPS-