University of Massachusets Athletics
Back In The NCAAs! UMass To Face No. 1 Maryland
November 09, 2010 | Field Hockey
Nov. 9, 2010
Interactive NCAA Bracket | Printable Bracket
AMHERST, Mass. - For the third time in the last four years, the UMass field hockey team is heading to the NCAA Tournament. This time the Minutewomen, winners of the Atlantic 10 Championship and 11 of their last 12 games, earned an at-large berth and will play at No. 1 overall seed Maryland in the first round on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. in College Park, Md.
Playing in the other Maryland region first round game are Connecticut and American, who will meet at 2 p.m. Saturday. The winners of both first round games will meet on Sunday for the chance to go to the Final Four the following weekend, also hosted by Maryland.
This will be UMass' 22nd NCAA Tournament appearance and third in four years under Head Coach Justine Sowry.
UMass has played all three other teams in its region during the 2010 regular season. On Sept. 19 the Minutewomen fell to the then-No. 2 Terrapins, 3-0, after falling at American, 2-0 the day before. UMass knocked off then-No. 4 Connecticut on Sept. 11, 1-0 at Garber Field.
UMass, ranked No. 18 in this week's NFHCA Coaches Poll, had to await the NCAA Selection Show to learn if it earned an at-large berth by virtue of falling to No. 19 Stanford, 2-1, in an NCAA play-in game at Garber Field on Tuesday afternoon, snapping UMass' 11-game winning streak.
The Minutewomen are 15-7 overall on the season, including going 7-0 in Atlantic 10 Conference play. UMass' win over No. 4 UConn and a 2-0 victory over No. 8 Syracuse were part of a challenging non-conference schedule that led to UMass' No. 15 ranking in the NCAA RPI going into the NCAA Tournament.
