Nov. 12, 2009

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The top-seeded Maryland field hockey team begins competition in the NCAA Tournament Saturday at 11:30 a.m. against nearby rival American. The defending national champion Terrapins won the ACC Tournament last weekend and will host the first and second round of the NCAA Tournament. Connecticut and Drexel will face off at 2 p.m. The winners of Saturday's game will take the field at 2 p.m. Sunday.

PARKING ADVISORY
• All fans wishing to attend Saturday's games are advised to plan for heavy traffic in the College Park area. Due to a home football game, the campus area will be congested.
• Fans can park in lot 4i, the lot directly adjacent to the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex. The cost of parking will be $15.
• Admission prices are $5 for adults and $3 for students.
• Parking for Sunday is free.

TOP TERPS
• This year marks the Terps' 22nd NCAA Tournament appearance. The Terrapins have become a staple of the Tournament, appearing the last 15 years straight.
• Maryland started the year ranked No. 1 in the Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll. The Terps stayed atop the poll the entire regular season.
• The Terrapins own the second-best winning percentage in NCAA Tournament play (.727) and their overall tournament record is 40-15, second only to Old Dominion, who is 46-18.

LOOKING AT THE EAGLES...
• The Terps defeated American 3-0 on Sept. 26 at the Eagles' field in DC. It was the team's only meeting this year. Senior Nicole Muracco and Emma Thomas put the Terrapins on the board in that game. Muracco scored once and Thomas scored twice. • Coming into Friday's match up, Christine Fingerhuth is American's leader in goals (13) and points (29).
• American is 12-8 (4-1) on the year and won its seventh consecutive Patriot League championship this year.
• The Eagles earned an NCAA Tournament berth after beating Lock Haven 2-1 Tuesday afternoon in a play-in game. This marks their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance and fifth in the last six years.

BIG EAST CHAMPS
• The Connecticut Huskies enter this weekend's tournament as the Big East champions and are ranked No. 5 in the final Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll that came out this week.
• UConn finished the season 19-2.
• Loren Sherer leads the Huskies in goals with 31 and assists with 18. She has 80 points on the year.

LOOKING AT THE DRAGONS...
• Drexel enters the tournament on an at-large bid and is ranked No. 10 nationally.
• This year is the Dragons' first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
• Christina Mastropaolo leads the Dragons with 29 goals and 69 points.

MARVELOUS MEHARG
• The ACC announced last week that four Maryland players were named to the All-ACC team and head coach Missy Meharg was named Coach of the Year.
• Meharg was honored for the fifth time in her 22-year career and first since 2001.
• This is the second consecutive year Maryland swept the league's annual awards.

OUTSTANDING O'DONNELL
• Junior Katie O'Donnell earned Offensive Player of the Year honors for the third consecutive year.
• O'Donnell recently became Maryland's all-time points leader and is just four assists away from owning the all-time assist record at 72. Jen Pratt's record of 71, set in 1998, is also an ACC record.

EXCELLENT EMMA
• Senior Emma Thomas was awarded the Defensive Player of the Year award. She is second in the league in defensive saves with three.
• Thomas is also a force to be reckoned with on the offensive side of the ball. She ranks top ten in the league in every offensive category: fourth in shots (88), fifth in points (51), tied for fifth in goals (20), and eighth in assists (12).

DYNAMITE DUO
• Seniors Alexis Pappas and Nicole Muracco were named to the 17-member All-ACC team, both for the second time in their careers.
• Muracco took the Maryland record for career goals earlier this year when she broke Carla Tagliente's record of 73. She is two goals away from owning the single-season goals record as well.
• Pappas currently has 22 assists on the year, which puts her at fifth in school history in single-season assists. She is second in the ACC in assists.

GRATER THE GREAT
• Senior goalkeeper Alicia Grater is the anchor of the Terrapin defensive unit.
• She earned a new career-high in saves with 12 against No. 2 North Carolina on Oct. 24.
• Grater leads the ACC in save percentage (.830).

SUPER SENIORS
• This year's senior class is easily one of the most successful in program history. The class of 2009 has a career record of 82-7, with an astounding winning percentage of .921.
• These seven seniors have never played the NCAA First and Second Rounds away from their home field.

SEASON OF FIRSTS
• With their 6-2 win over No. 12 Stanford on Oct. 30, the Terrapins finished the year 18-0 - the first perfect regular season record in Maryland field hockey history.
• The Terps also earned a 5-0 ACC record this year, which is also a first.
• To close the season, the Terps defeated seven straight ranked opponents - another program record.

AWESOME ACC
• Five ACC teams earned NCAA Tournament berths, while three of the five teams will serve as host sites for the First and Second Rounds (Virginia, Maryland, Wake Forest).
• This is the fifth consecutive year the ACC has had five teams entered into the Tournament.
• The ACC has more teams in the 2009 Tournament than any other conference.

FAITHFUL FANS
• The Terrapin faithful at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex have put the Terps second in the ACC attendance with 4,478 fans coming out to support the team at home this year. They are second only to Virginia by 41 fans.
• Maryland averages 376 fans per game, including away games and neutral-site games, just one behind North Carolina who averages 377.

KEEP IN TOUCH
• All Terps games will be broadcast live at WMUCSports.com.