May 16, 2006

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Another tough schedule is slated for the NCAA and ACC Champion field hockey Terps, as they look to capture both titles for the second-straight year. Maryland kicks off the season on their march to title number five on August 26 when it travels west to California for three games.

"We have a very diverse and another challenging schedule in 2006, playing teams from eight different conferences across the country," said five-time national coach of the coach of the year Missy Meharg. "Our strength of schedule is automatic competing in the powerful ACC and coupled with a home-and-away series with CAA-foe Old Dominion, while playing traditional conference powers Michigan from the Big 10, Patriot League leader American and the Ivy League's Princeton University. Having 11 home games and eight on the road is compliment to our new facility and playing surface."

The Terps face eight teams which ended last season ranked in the top 20, including six in the top 10. Nine of Maryland's 2006 opponents also earned NCAA Tournament bids. It will also face the other three 2006 NCAA semifinal squads.

Maryland makes its second trip to the Golden State in six years in late August. Stanford University hosts the Terps and the University of the Pacific on August 26, then the Cardinal play Maryland on August 27. After a day off, the Terrapins are back on the turf in Berkley, Calif., to take on the Bears of California.

The first game of the home-and-home series with perennial powerhouse Old Dominion on Saturday, Sept. 2 marks the beginning of a six-game homestand, which also features the Terrapin Invitational on Sept. 9-10. The Terps host Northwestern, Temple and American for the ninth edition of the home tournament. The Lady Monarchs handed Maryland one of its only two losses of the season last year, but the Terps avenged that loss, defeating ODU in the national semifinals to advance to the NCAA title game.

The ACC champions open the conference season against Boston College on Sept. 16, followed by a non-conference tilt with regional rival James Madison to wrap up the homestand. The Eagles will also play Towson prior to the Terps-Dukes matchup.

Back on the road, the Terps face important opponents, including national semifinalist Wake Forest on Sept. 23 in a rematch of the ACC title game, and the following week travel to Virginia on Sept. 29. On Oct. 1, Michigan, who is consistently ranked in the top 10 in the nation, and Maryland will battle on a neutral site turf on the campus of Penn State University.

A brief stay at home has the Terps in the NCAA title game rematch against Duke on Oct. 7 at 1 p.m. Maryland defeated the Blue Devils, 1-0, in Louisville, Ky., last season to capture the program's fourth national title.

Maryland's final two road games send the team to Princeton on Oct. 10 and then to Old Dominion on Oct. 14, for the final installment of the home-and-home series.

The season winds down with four-consecutive homes matches with Albany on Oct. 15, followed by a rematch of the second round NCAA Tournament game vs. local rival American on Oct. 18. North Carolina visits College Park to close out the conference schedule on Oct. 22, while the Terps play Appalachian State for the first time in 26 years on Oct. 27, closing out the regular season slate.

Looking to be on pace to win its seventh ACC crown, the conference tournament will be held in Chapel Hill, N.C., Nov. 2-5. NCAA Tournament action starts with the first and second rounds on Nov. 11-12, with the semifinals and finals being hosted in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Terps have never won back-to-back NCAA titles, while they have won four-straight ACC crowns from 1998-2001 and six overall.

2006 MARYLAND FIELD HOCKEY SCHEDULE

Day	Date	Opponent	Location	Time
Sat.	Aug. 26	vs. Pacific	Stanford, Calif.	6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT
Sun.	Aug. 27	at Stanford	Stanford, Calif.	6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT
Tues.	Aug. 29	at California	Berkeley, Calif.	4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT
Sat.	Sept. 2	OLD DOMINION	College Park, Md.	12 p.m.
TERRAPIN INVITATIONAL
Sat.	Sept. 9	TEMPLE	College Park, Md.	11 a.m.
		Northwestern vs. American	College Park, Md.	1 p.m.
Sun.	Sept. 10	NORTHWESTERN	College Park, Md.	1 p.m.
		Temple vs. American	College Park, Md.	 3 p.m.
Wed.	Sept. 13	DELAWARE	College Park, Md.	4 p.m.
Sat.	Sept. 16	BOSTON COLLEGE *	College Park, Md.	1 p.m.
Sun.	Sept. 17	Boston College vs. Towson	College Park, Md.	11 a.m.
		JAMES MADISON	College Park, Md.	2 p.m.
Sat.	Sept. 23	at Wake Forest*	Winston-Salem, N.C.	1 p.m.
Fri.	Sept. 29	at Virginia*	Charlottesville, Va.	6 p.m.
Sun.	Oct. 1	vs. Michigan	State College, Pa.	12 p.m.
Sat.	Oct. 7	DUKE*	College Park, Md.	1 p.m.
Tues.	Oct. 10	at Princeton	Princeton, N.J.	7 p.m.
Sat.	Oct. 14	at Old Dominion	Norfolk, Va.	12 p.m.
Sun.	Oct. 15	ALBANY	College Park, Md.	1 p.m.
Wed.	Oct. 18	AMERICAN	College Park, Md.	4 p.m.
Sun.	Oct. 22	NORTH CAROLINA*	College Park, Md.	1 p.m.
Fri.	Oct. 27	APPALACHIAN STATE	College Park, Md.	7 p.m.
Thu.-Sun.	Nov. 2-5	ACC Tournament		Chapel Hill, N.C.
Sat.-Sun.	Nov. 11-12	NCAA First and Second Rounds	Campus Sites
Fri.	Nov. 17	NCAA Tournament Semifinals		Winston-Salem, N.C.
Sun.	Nov. 19	NCAA Tournament Championship Game	Winston-Salem, N.C.