University of Richmond Athletics
Field Hockey To Play at No. 1 North Carolina In First Round of NCAA Tournament
11/09/2004 | Field Hockey
Nov. 9, 2004
A Closer Look At The NCAA Tournament's Field of 16
November 13-14, 2004 -- Chapel Hill, N.C. -- Francis E. Henry Stadium
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Scene setter: Richmond will be part of the 2004 NCAA Tournament for the third-consecutive season. Nationally ranked at No. 10, the Spiders earned an automatic bid by winning the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament then topped Rider, the Northeast Conference Tournament winner, 6-0, Tuesday, Nov. 9 during an NCAA Play-In match in Richmond, Va. Richmond has won its last 12 contests dating back to Sept. 26 against James Madison. In the stretch, the Spiders have clinched their third-straight Atlantic 10 regular season title, their third consecutive A-10 Tournament title, moved a winning streak over A-10 foes to 24 straight and outscored their opponents 54-4.
On Tap: Richmond will face top-seeded North Carolina Saturday, Nov. 13, at 11 a.m. in the first game of the Chapel Hill, N.C., bracket. The winner of the game will advance to the round of eight and face the winner of the Duke-Old Dominion match (2 p.m.) in a game scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 14 at 2 p.m.
Richmond in the NCAA Tournament: Richmond is making its third-straight trip to the NCAA tournament. The Spiders' last time in the NCAA's was 2003 when it lost to Cal-Berkeley, 2-1, in an NCAA Play-In match, but received an at-large bid. Richmond then fell to Old Dominion, 4-2, in the first round. In 2002, Richmond was automatic qualifier after winning the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament and downing Rider, 2-1, in an NCAA Play-In match. The Spiders went on to fall to the Lady Monarchs of Old Dominion, 5-1.
Richmond vs. North Carolina: Richmond is 0-5 all-time against the Tar Heels dating back to 1982. UNC has scored a total of 29 goals on the Spiders, who have put only one in the cage during the series. According to the history books, three games have been played in Chapel Hill and one in Richmond. The other contest site was not recorded. The Spiders have been outscored 22-0 in the three noted games played in North Carolina.
Records: Richmond is 18-2 after topping Rider in the NCAA Play-In match Tuesday, Nov. 9 in Richmond, Va. The Spiders went 6-0 in Atlantic 10 action and are currently on a 12-game win streak. North Carolina is 20-1 after winning its first Atlantic Coast Conference Championship since 1997. The Tar Heels knocked off perennial power Wake Forest in the semifinals of the ACC tournament then beat Maryland, 3-1, in the final.
Rankings: Richmond is ranked 10th in the latest STX/NFHCA Poll. The Spiders debuted at No. 11 then fell to 12th and later rebounded to No. 11 before jumping to the 10th spot. Richmond has never been ranked higher than 10th in school history. The Spiders ended the 2003 season at No. 10 in the NFHCA poll. North Carolina is the top-ranked team in the Nov. 9 edition of the NFHCA poll after knocking off former No. 1 Wake Forest in the semifinals of the ACC tournament. UNC received 22 first-place votes and a total of 440 votes to move up from No. 2 in the Nov. 2 edition of the poll.
North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament: North Carolina has appeared in 20 NCAA Tournaments since the 1983 season. The Tar Heels have won four National Championships including three straight from 1995-97. UNC has finished second six of its 20 times in the tournament, including four times between 1990-1994. Last year the Tar Heels fell in their first round contest against Michigan, 2-1.
NCAA Tournament seeds: North Carolina is the tournament's top seed and will host one of four regional brackets. In the other four-team bracket on the UNC half is No. 4 Michigan. The Wolverines won the Big Ten Conference's automatic bid. Maryland will serve as the tournament's No. 3 seed and host one of four regions. No. 2 Wake Forest is the final top seed, but will play at Harvard -- the regions host site. Wake will then host the Final Four in Winston Salem, N.C., Nov. 19-21.
Comments From Head Coach Ange Bradley and Selected Players
Head Coach Ange Bradley
On overall tournament bracket:
"I think they did a good job selecting. I think it is fair all the way around. Based on the fact that they have the top four teams then regionally off of that we thought we would go to North Carolina or Maryland. It is a great opportunity for us to play the top team in the country and get a taste of that. That is where we want to be and you can't be there if you don't get to play it."
On being in the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season:
"The biggest thing for us is to overcome the hurdle. This is what we have worked for all year and it is here. The most important thing we need to realize is that everyone is 0-0 in the tournament. This is where we wanted to be and we have the opportunity to go for it again and see if we can do better than we have done in the past. Win or lose we will learn from the experience."
On facing North Carolina in the first round:
"I think they are a good team. They are a good passing team, a good hitting team. They are strong top-to-bottom and have several good U.S. players. I think they are a talented group that can score. They play in the toughest conference in the country and we have our work cut out for us."
Junior Midfielder Allie Howard
On being in the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight year:
"The feeling we have now is a lot better than last year because we knew tonight we were in it since we won (the play-in match). We are ready to go out and practice hard this week and prepare."
On North Carolina:
"I have played against a lot of their girls during the summer so I have seen them play. We are the fastest team in the Atlantic 10 so we do not see their type of speed every game. We are going to have work hard this week in practice on picking our ball speed up. They are all as fast as we are and we need to get used to it."
Junior Goalkeeper Michelle Swartz
On facing North Carolina:
"I am looking forward to facing them. We have absolutely nothing to lose being the underdog. It is a wonderful opportunity."
On the south region's bracket and the overall tournament:
"The south region is always outstanding. With Old Dominion and Duke along with UNC in the bracket we have to expect a difficult game to get through. If we break through that bracket I think we might have a decent shot."
On playing in the NCAA Tournament:
"It is always a great opportunity. We are going to have to focus on speed and keeping up with them. As a goalkeeper I am going to have an opportunity to get a lot of shots and see a lot of action. That is what is fun about the game."