CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina field hockey team will open the season ranked No. 1 in both the national and Atlantic Coast Conference preseason polls, announced Tuesday. Additionally, seniors Emma Bozek and Julia Young have been named to the Preseason All-ACC Team.
In the Division I Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) preseason poll, UNC received 915 points and 16 first-place votes. Syracuse, the defending national champion, received 25 first-place votes but a total of 898 points and starts the year ranked No. 2. Connecticut, Duke and Virginia round out the top five, giving the ACC four of the top five teams in the poll.