April 8, 2004

2004 UNC Field Hockey Schedule

The North Carolina field hockey team will open its 2004 schedule the same way it ended 2003, with a matchup against Michigan.

The Tar Heels finished 16-6 last season after falling to the Wolverines 2-1 in a first-round NCAA Tournament game played in East Lansing, Mich. Carolina will open the new season on Aug. 28 with a game against Michigan in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, which will be played this year in Winston-Salem, N.C.

"Once again, we'll play a very difficult schedule," said UNC coach Karen Shelton, who is heading into her 24th season at the helm of the program. "That's our philosophy. It can be risky to play that many good teams, but the risks are worth it."

The Tar Heels will play a total of seven games against teams ranked in the top eight in last season's final poll. UNC will meet at least nine and possibly 10 teams ranked in the final top 20.

In addition to the team's Atlantic Coast Conference rivals, which include defending NCAA Champion Wake Forest, Carolina will play three Big Ten teams. The Tar Heels face Michigan and Iowa in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge to open the season and meet Iowa again in the Temple Invitational the following week. The weekend after that, the Tar Heel travel to Newark, Del., to face Delaware then on to State College, Pa., to play Penn State.

UNC opens the home season on Sept. 18 against Old Dominion and will play a total of seven regular-season games at Francis E. Henry Stadium.

This year's ACC Tournament is scheduled for Nov. 4, 5 and 7 and will be hosted by Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Tar Heels will return a strong group of players, including first-team All-America Kelsey Keeran, third-team pick Laura Douglas and 2003 ACC Freshman of the Year Rachel Dawson. "I'm excited that we'll have all our starters returning," Shelton said. "We've continued to make good progress this spring, and I look forward to seeing what we can do in 2004."