Tar Heels Take Top Spot In Preseason Poll

The North Carolina field hockey team will open the upcoming season the same way it ended the last one: as the nation's No. 1 team. UNC, the defending NCAA champion, sits atop the 2019 NFHCA (National Field Hockey Coaches Association) preseason poll, released on Tuesday.

The Tar Heels received 31 of 33 first-place votes and a total of 821 points in voting by NCAA coaches. They'll open the 2019 season this weekend in Ann Arbor, Mich., playing a pair of top-10 teams in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. UNC meets No. 7 Michigan on Friday and then plays No. 8 Iowa on Sunday.

After Carolina in the top five is Maryland, last year's runner-up. Duke is No. 3, Connecticut is No. 4 and Princeton is No. 5.

All seven ACC teams are ranked in the preseason poll. After UNC and Duke, Wake Forest is No. 10, Virginia is No. 11, Louisville is No. 12, Boston College is No. 13 and Syracuse is No. 18.

Other UNC opponents ranked in the top 25 are Saint Joseph's at No. 17, Liberty at No. 20, Albany at No. 22 and William & Mary at No. 25. Thirteen of Carolina's 17 regular-season opponents are included in the preseason poll.

For a look at the entire poll, click here.

For UNC's 2019 schedule, click here.

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