Sept. 15, 2011

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The No. 3 Maryland field hockey team (5-1) will open Atlantic Coast Conference competition this weekend with a 6 p.m. game Friday at No. 8 Boston College (5-1).

• Friday's game will be played at the Field Hockey Field at the Newton Sports Complex in Newton, Mass.

Event Multimedia
• Gametracker live stats will be available for Friday's game at REPLACE_ME.

Scouting The Terps
• Maryland is currently ranked No. 3 in the Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I National Coaches poll. The Terrapins are coming off of their seventh national title, ninth ACC title, and a 23-1 overall record last year.

• The Terrapins are coming off of two wins this past weekend in the 16th annual Terrapin Invitational. They beat Northwestern 3-0 Saturday and Villanova 6-3 Sunday.

• Sophomore Jill Witmer was named Co-ACC Player of the Week Tuesday, along with Boston College's Jacqui Moorfield. It is the first weekly honor for Witmer this season and third of her career. She notched her first career hat trick vs. Villanova Saturday.

• Against Northwestern, freshmen Maxine Fluharty and Katie Gerzabek, as well as sophomore Jill Witmer, all scored. It was Fluharty's first career goal.

• In the game vs. Villanova, Witmer tied the game at one when she put Witmer put Maryland on the board in the 19th minute to tie the game at one. Junior Megan Frazer found her inside the circle for a one-on-one with the Wildcats' goalkeeper. With the game tied at two, Witmer gave Maryland a one-goal lead when she scored less than four minutes into the second half when she tipped in a loose ball off of a penalty corner. She added the Terps' sixth goal in the 52nd minute when she deflected in senior Jemma Buckley's shot off of another penalty corner.

• The Terrapins return the entire coaching staff from last year's NCAA championship team. The staff of Missy Meharg, Tjerk van Herwaarden, Dina Rizzo and Barb Weinberg all return. The Terps welcome staff additions Jane DeGrenier as the director of operations and Meghan Dean as the student assistant coach.

Scouting the Eagles
• Boston College is 5-1 so far this season and is ranked No. 8 in the latest Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I National Coaches poll.

• The Eagles have won their last three straight games. Most recently, they beat No. 11 Boston University 1-0 last Friday. Their lone loss was to Maine, 4-3, in overtime.

• Maryland is 8-0 all-time over Boston College. The Terps beat the Eagles 4-2 last September in College Park.

Home Sweet Home
Since its opening in 2003, the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex has provided the Maryland hockey program a huge home field advantage.
• The Terps are 99-9 (.917) all-time at the Complex.
• Maryland is currently on a 35-game home win streak. The Terrapins haven't lost at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex since Oct. 11, 2008 in a 3-2 lost to No. 9 Duke.
• The Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex has played home to 18 of Maryland's NCAA Tournament games, including two Final Fours (2007, 2010). The Terrapins are 17-1 in those games and won the 2010 national title on their home field.

Pack the House
• The Maryland field hockey team has increasingly attracted more and more fans to the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex season after season.
• An NCAA record crowd of 2,381 came out to watch as Maryland beat North Carolina 3-2 in double overtime for the 2010 national championship at the Complex last November.
• The Terrapins have led the ACC in attendance for four straight years. In 2010, Maryland averaged over 700 fans per game and 10,572 fans saw the Terps play during the year.

Play the Best
Due to being in the toughest conferences in the nation, the Terrapins play one of the strongest schedules in the country.
• Five of the six ACC schools are in the top 20 of this week's Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll. North Carolina (5-0) is in the nation's top spot, while No. 3. Duke (5-1) is No. 6 and Boston College (5-1) is No. 8. Virginia (4-3) is ranked 18th and Wake Forest is receiving votes.
• The Terps will battle nine of the 16 teams that participated in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. So far, Maryland is 2-1 against those teams.
• Maryland will play 12 of the 20 teams ranked in the preseason top 20 and is currently 2-1 vs preseason ranked teams.

Head Coach Missy Meharg
The 2010 NFHCA National Coach of the Year, Missy Meharg returns for her 24th season at the helm of the prestigious Terrapin field hockey program. Her current career record is 418-103-9 (.797). Below is a breakdown of just a few of her highlights since she took the reins in 1988:
• Six-time National Champions
• Nine ACC Titles
• Eight NFHCA Coach of the Year honors
• Six ACC Coach of the Year awards
• 13 NCAA Final Four Appearances
• Six Honda Awards won by four players
• 85 All-ACC selections
• 14 ACC Players of the Year
• Seven ACC Rookies of the Year
• Four Olympians

Three Named to Preseason All-ACC Team
Three Terrapins were named to the Preseason All-ACC Team - Megan Frazer, Harriet Tibble, and Jill Witmer.
• Frazer was named an NFHCA First Team All-American last year. She scored the game-winning goal in double overtime for the NCAA title over North Carolina last November.
• Tibble earned All-American honors from womensfieldhockey.com and was named to the All-ACC Team. In the 2010 national championship game, she scored her first goal of the season with 7:25 remaining to tie the game at two.
• Witmer was named ACC Rookie of the Year and an NFHCA All-American as well. She finished the season fifth in the league in goals scored with 24 and fifth in points on the year with 41.

Terps Picked to Finish No. 2 in ACC
Maryland was picked to finish second in the ACC, as voted by the league's six head coaches.
• The Terrapins received two of the six first-place votes.
• The Terps have won the last three straight ACC championships (2008, 2009, 2010), and nine overall.
• North Carolina, last year's NCAA and ACC runner-up, was picked to win the league with four of the first-place votes. Virginia came in third and Duke, Wake Forest and Boston College rounded out the standings, respectively.

Terps in Openers
• Maryland is 33-3-2 in season openers and the Terps have won their last 15 straight.
• The Terrapins haven't opened the season at home in the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex since 2000. They've opened 23 of their 36 seasons on the road.
• With their win over Michigan last weekend, the Terps are 9-0 in home openers at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex and have outscored their opponents 37-6 in those nine games.

Home Openers at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex
9/13/03 - Maryland 6, Drexel 0
9/4/04 - Maryland 6, Old Dominion 0
9/2/05 - Maryland 4, Michigan 0
9/4/06 - Maryland 1, Old Dominion 0
9/2/07 - Maryland 3, Michigan 2 (2OT)
9/5/08 - Maryland 8, Old Dominion 1
9/6/09 - Maryland 4, Michigan 1
9/3/10 - Maryland 3, Old Dominion 1
9/4/11 - Maryland 2, Michigan 1

Terps on the Tube
Thanks to the ACC's new deal with ESPN, some of the Olympic sports are able to get more global and convenient converage.
• Premium TerpsTV programming requires a subscription which ranges from $9.95 monthly to $79.95 annually for all content. To sign up, log on to REPLACE_ME.

Terps When...

Meharg Named ESPNU/ESPN The Magazine Top 20 Recruiter
Terrapin head coach Missy Meharg was named one of college athletics' top 20 recruiters by ESPNU/ESPN The Magazine in January.

"ESPNU AND THE MAGAZINE asked an all-star panel a seemingly simple question: Who are the top 20 recruiters in college sports? We spoke with three dozen experts, from Mag college football Insider Bruce Feldman to volleyball legend Karch Kiraly to women's World Cupper Cat Whitehill. Turns out, baseball coaches aren't the only ones pulling roster magic from a hat half-filled with scholarships."

Support the Terps
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Media Information
• Email Straight To You: If you would like the latest Maryland field hockey news emailed directly to you as soon as it breaks, email field hockey contact Rose DiPaula with "Field Hockey E-Mail" as the subject and you will receive every update.

• Terps on the Web: For up-to-date game stories, statistics, schedules and results, and other Maryland athletic department information, please log-on to www.umterps.com on the Internet.

• GameTracker: Follow Terps games live in 2011 on your computer with GameTracker. Links for all games that will be available can be found at www.umterps.com.