When Giants Meet

#1 against #2.  It does not get any better then this does it?  Tomorrow at noon, #1 North Carolina is going to face #2 Connecticut at a neutral site.  Some sports naturally pit the highest two ranked teams against each other while others can only hope that they meet.  NCAA field hockey is going to have one epic day when #1 and #2 meet tomorrow.

Of course, this is not the first 1/2 meeting that we have had this season.  Earlier in the year #2 North Carolina met with #1 Maryland and the tar heels came out on top. After the game, the heels came out as the #1 team and currently Maryland is the #4 team in the country.  Having two 1/2 matchups in the month of September is an incredibly special season and a sign of great things to come.

So how did we get here?  UNC is currently 7-1 on the season with their one loss being at Louisville last weekend. North Carolina has beat Michigan, Iowa, Maryland, Syracuse, and Boston College to prove to the country that they are the #1 team.  The hardest part of their schedule is arguably over with matchups against Connecticut, Duke, Virginia, and Wake Forest left with many smaller sides in between.  North Carolina is looking to be a favorite for the tournament and they came close last year until they lost in the semifinals.

Who beat them in the semis? Connecticut.  The huskies may not be in the ACC, but they still play a tough schedule. They have already faced Penn State, Boston College, and Stanford and end their season against Temple.  Connecticut is currently 6-2 on the season with a loss at Boston College in a shootout and on Friday afternoon against Stanford.  While their resume this season may not look quite as impressive, this team is the defending national champions and that speaks loudly.

Who needs the win more? While both teams are going to bring their A game, Connecticut needs this win more.  Their remaining schedule is weaker then Carolina's is and they are coming off of their first loss.  The ACC is still the dominating conference and UNC will have multiple chances to prove itself later on this year if they stumble on Sunday.  Connecticut does not have Virginia and Duke remaining on their schedule so many will look to how they played against Stanford and UNC at the end of the season.  With a loss on Friday already, Connecticut needs this win more then Carolina does.

Who does the neutral site benefit? The game tomorrow is being played at the Boston College Soccer Complex in Newton, Massachusetts.  North Carolina just played there on Friday and earned an overtime win over Boston College.  Despite that, I think Connecticut has the advantage here.  They also played on this field earlier in the season and Storrs is only 90 minutes from Newton.  They should have the bigger fan base at the game and they will not be as tired from the travel as North Carolina will be.

Who will win? The biggest winner on Sunday is probably going to be the fans.  Seeing #1 meet #2 at a neutral site and have it be a rematch of a semifinal game from last year is a great story.  But on the field though it will be extremely competitive. I would not be surprised to see this game go into overtime.  My prediction is:

North Carolina 3 and Connecticut 2

Ivy League Roundup (9/27/14 edition)

This weekend was big for Ivy League teams that are busy in conference play.  All eight schools in action and we got a taste for how they matchup.  Let's take a look at what happened.

Harvard 1 @ Penn 4

Brown 1 @ Dartmouth 6

Princeton 4 @ Yale 1

Cornell 2 @ Columbia 1 (OT)


Cornell is still the top team in the league with a conference record of 2-0 and an overall record of 6-1.  After two games, only Cornell and Princeton are undefeated in league play.

Dartmouth may only have one win on the season, but it's an impressive win.  6-1 over Brown at home this weekend is definitely a good result for the team who is looking to turn things around.  Can they make a run during conference play?

The current league standings are:

1) Cornell 6-1 (2-0)
2) Princeton 3-4 (2-0)
3) Harvard 5-2 (1-1)
4) Columbia 4-3 (1-1)
5) Penn 4-3 (1-1)
6)) Dartmouth 1-5 (1-1)
7) Brown 4-2 (0-2)
8) Yale 1-6 (0-2)

The next conference game is coming on October 3rd when Princeton visits Columbia.

What to watch for on Friday (9/26/14)

This Friday is a huge night in NCAA field hockey.  Some of the top teams in the country are facing off against each other in conference play.  But who is playing and what games are the biggest? Well let's take a look at the top three games of the night.

3.) #10 Syracuse at #3 Virginia: Friday night ACC field hockey with two teams heading in opposite directions.  Virginia is on a roll with six straight wins and three of them coming over currently ranked squads.  Syracuse on the other hand has had a brutal last two games with a 3-0 loss at North Carolina and a heartbreaking 3-2 overtime loss at home against Boston College.  Despite recent results, both teams are incredibly strong and this game could go either way.  Look for a great game in Charlottesville on Friday

2.) #9 Stanford at #2 Connecticut: Two top 10 teams playing in a late non-conference matchup.  Both teams are heading into this matchup needing signature wins from this game but only one can win.  Stanford will probably not face another top 10 team in the regular season and UCONN needs a win over a ranked opponent after losing to Boston College earlier.  Bottom line is that both of these programs would be thrilled to win this game so they are both going to come prepared.

1.) #1 North Carolina at #6 Boston College: This matchup is huge plain and simple.  Boston College is coming off of a historic week in the history of their program and would love to keep the momentum going against #1 North Carolina.  UNC lost to Louisville last week and is looking to prove that they are truly the top team.

Honorable Mention: #4 Maryland at #14 Michigan, #17 Indiana at #8 Iowa, and #11 Louisville at #16 Wake Forest.

Top 20 poll for September 23rd

Another Tuesday brings us another coaches poll!  Let's take a look at the week three coaches poll.

                                                                             (photo courtesy of National Field Hockey Coaches Association)

1.) North Carolina

2.) Connecticut

3.) Virginia

4.) Maryland

5.) Duke

6.) Boston College 

7.) Penn State

8.) Iowa

9.) Stanford

10.) Syracuse 

11.) Louisville

12.) Albany

13.) Northwestern

14.) Michigan

15.) Temple

16.) Wake Forest

17.) Indiana

18.) Michigan State

19.) Old Dominion

20.) Boston University

So let's break it down.  Who rose and who fell? (last week's rank in parenthesis) 

Risers- #2 Connecticut (5), #3 Virginia (10), #6 Boston College (11), #8 Iowa (9), #11 Louisville (14), #13 Northwestern (15), #14 Michigan (18), and #20 Boston University (Not Ranked)

Fallers- #4 Maryland (2), #5 Duke (3), #7 Penn State (6), #9 Stanford (8), #10 Syracuse (4), #12 Albany (7), #15 Temple (13), #16 Wake Forest (12), #18 Michigan State (16), and unranked Princeton (20).

This weekend in the ncaa (September 19-21, 2014)

Let's see how the top 20 teams did this weekend.

Friday-September 19th:

#18 Michigan 3 @ #6 Penn State 2 (OT)

#12 Wake Forest 1 @ Liberty 2

#10 Virginia 2 @ #3 Duke 1

#5 Connecticut 2 @ UMASS 0

#19 Old Dominion 3 @ William & Mary 1

Missouri State 3 @ #20 James Madison 4

#16 Michigan State 4 @ Ohio State 3 (OT)


Saturday- September 20th:

#11 Boston College 3 @ #4 Syracuse 2 (OT)

#1 North Carolina 2 @ #14 Louisville 3

#2 Maryland 3 @ #15 Northwestern 2

#17 Indiana 1 @ Ohio 0

Dartmouth 0 @ #20 Princeton 4


Sunday- September 21st:

#5 Connecticut 2 @ Lafayette 1

#7 Albany 2 @ #10 Virginia 3 (OT)

California 1 @ #8 Stanford 2

#11 Boston College 6 @ Colgate 3

Drexel 1 @ #13 Temple 0 (OT)

#18 Michigan 3 @ Kent State 2

#9 Iowa 3 @ Rutgers 0

Ball State 1 @ #15 Northwestern 5

#3 Duke 3 @ William & Mary 0

Delaware 1 @ #19 Old Dominion 2 (OT)

#12  Wake Forest 3 @ Richmond 0

Miami (OH) 0 @ #1 North Carolina 3

#20 Princeton 2 @ American 1


Biggest Win: #14 Louisville over #1 North Carolina

Strongest Conference: ACC.  Top four schools in the rankings lead to impressive conference play.


Enjoy your Sunday evening and let's get ready for another great week of field hockey.

Welcome to the blog!

Welcome to College Field Hockey Today!  This is a new blog designed to cover NCAA field hockey.  The focus will be on Division One, however at times the site will cover field hockey in other divisions.

So what can you expect from this site?  Expect to see scores, standings, game recaps and reports as well as general speculation.  If you want to know what is going on in the world of NCAA field hockey, this is the site for you.  The season is well underway at this point so there is a lot to cover, starting with the biggest games and the biggest stories.

So welcome to the site!

-College Field Hockey Today