Nov. 6, 2012
NORFOLK, Va. - The Old Dominion University field hockey team was selected to play in the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Tournament for the 30th time in their history on Tuesday evening and will face Michigan on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Old Dominion's 30 appearances in the NCAA Tournament is the most in Division I history. The Lady Monarchs (14-5) earned an at-large bid and faces the runner-up out of the Big Ten in Michigan (15-6). The winner of that game will face the winner of North Carolina vs. Stanford on Sunday with a spot in the NCAA Semifinals in Norfolk on the line. The bracket is identical to 2010 where ODU and Michigan faced off in the first round with the Lady Monarchs coming out on top, 1-0. That was the last time the teams met with Old Dominion holding the all-time advantage in the series, 6-4.
Last week, head coach Beth Anders has been honored as the Colonial Athletic Association's Coach of the Year for the 12th time in her career while redshirt junior back Christy Longacre was tabbed as the CAA Defensive Player of the Year in a vote by the league's head coaches. Freshman forward Sarah Breen, junior midfielder Kati Nearhouse were also both First Team All-CAA selections while sophomore back Kelsey Smither was named to the second team.
Anders, who will be retiring at the conclusion of the 2012 season, has a career record of 560-135-7 in 30 years at ODU and has won an NCAA-record nine national titles and 15 CAA titles. Her 560 wins are the most all-time among NCAA Division I coaches. She guided the Lady Monarchs to their 14th CAA regular season title in 2012 and their 15th undefeated conference record with a 7-0 mark. ODU has been ranked in the top-10 of the NFHCA Top-25 Coaches Poll every week this season, and for 21 consecutive weeks dating back to 2011. ODU has five victories this season over ranked opponents.
2012 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Tournament Field
Chapel Hill, N.C.
(1) North Carolina* vs. Stanford
Old Dominion vs. Michigan
University Park, Pa.
Syracuse vs. Massachusetts
(4) Penn State* vs. Albany
Storrs, Conn.
(3) Connecticut* vs. Northeastern
Lafayette vs. Maryland
Charlottesville, Va.
Virginia* vs. Iowa
(2) Princeton vs. Drexel
*host site
The NCAA Tournament semifinals will take place at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 16th and Sunday, Nov. 18th at 1 p.m. All games will be play at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex in Norfolk. Tickets are available at ncaa.com/tickets and media credential requests are now being taken at ncaa.com/media.
Follow Old Dominion Field Hockey on Twitter at twitter.com/ODUFieldHockey and find them on Facebook at facebook.com/ODUFH.