Nov. 5, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The top-seeded Maryland field hockey team begins competition in the ACC Championship Friday at 4 p.m. against Wake Forest, the No. 4-seed. The Demon Deacons defeated No. 5-seed Boston College 4-3 Thursday in the quarterfinal round.

LOOKING AT WAKE FOREST...
• The Terps defeated Wake Forest 4-1 on Sept. 26 in the teams' only meeting this year.
• Four Terrapins scored in the win, including Nicole Muracco, Katie O'Donnell, Emma Thomas and Megan Frazer - all four of the team's top scorers.
• Hilary Moore scored the Deacons' only goal in that September meeting.
• Coming into Friday's match up, freshman Lizzie Rae is Wake's leader in goals (11) and points (23).

TOP TERPS
• This weekend marks the second time in three years the Terps have entered the Tournament as the top seed and the sixth time overall.
• 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.

MARVELOUS MEHARG
• The ACC announced Wednesday 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 - a feat only accomplished by Wake Forest's Kelly Doton (2002-2004).
• O'Donnell recently became Maryland's all-time points leader and is just six 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 (82), fifth in points (48), sixth in goals (19), and eighth in assists (10).

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 four goals away from owning the single-season goals record as well.
• Pappas currently has 20 assists on the year, which puts her at fifth in school history in single-season assists.

SEASON OF FIRSTS
• With their 6-2 win over No. 12 Stanford Friday night, 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.

KEEP IN TOUCH
• Friday's game will be broadcast live at WMUCSports.com.
• All of Thursday's and Friday's games will be available on demand via ACC Select at ACC Select.
• Follow along on Twitter at @theACCchamps.
• For all ACC Championship information, please visit ACC Championship Central.