Nov. 7, 2006

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The North Carolina field hockey team has received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and will open play Saturday against Penn State in College Park, Md. The game is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Terrapins' Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.

"We're delighted to be in the tournament," said UNC coach Karen Shelton, who is in her 26th season as the Tar Heels' coach and will lead her team into the tournament for the 23rd time. "This year, top to bottom, is the strongest field since I've been coaching. There's no easy draw and no easy bracket."

The other two teams playing in College Park, Richmond and host Maryland, meet Saturday at 11 a.m.. The Penn State-North Carolina winner will face off Sunday at 2 p.m. against the Maryland-Richmond winner for a trip to the NCAA Championships in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Nov. 17 and 19.

Carolina and Penn State met during the regular season, with the Nittany Lions winning 2-1 in University Park, Pa., on Oct. 13. The two last met in NCAA Tournament play in 1999, when the Tar Heels won 1-0 in a first-round game played in Iowa City, Iowa. UNC leads the overall series 18-6-1.

UNC and Maryland are among five Atlantic Coast Conference teams to receive NCAA Tournament bids. Wake Forest will host first and second-round games, playing American in the first round. Also in Winston-Salem is Virginia, taking on Iowa in the first round. Duke will host first and second-round games in Durham, N.C., with James Madison as its first-round opponent.

The Tar Heels are 33-18 all-time in NCAA Tournament play. UNC has won four national titles - in 1989, 1995, 1996 and 1997 - and made 12 appearances in the final four.