Field Hockey Claims #1 Overall Seed In NCAA Tournament

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina field hockey program is the top overall seed in the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship for the third year in a row and the sixth time in the past seven years.

The Tar Heels, who earned an auto bid by winning the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, open play on Friday in Karen Shelton Stadium at 11:00 a.m. ET against the winner of Wednesday's opening round matchup between Delaware & Fairfield. It is the program's 12th time in the No. 1 spot since seeding began in 1997, six more times than the next closest program.

See the full bracket, which was announced Sunday night, at NCAA.com. KSS will play host to the opening, first and second matchups for Carolina's corner of the bracket. The tournament semifinals and championship will be held in Ann Arbor, Mich., the following weekend.

Delaware and Fairfield square off on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. at KSS, with the winner moving on to face the Heels. Maryland and Duke will meet on Friday at 1:30 p.m. in the other first round game, with the winners set to play Sunday at noon for a spot in the semis.

It is a record 41^st appearance in the NCAA tournament field for Carolina. Friday's game will be UNC's 111^th in the national tournament, also the most for any program in the country.

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