Overview of the 2019 D1 field hockey season

The 2019 season was an unforgettable experience for all. Many records were broken, and many teams that were expected to be very successful didn’t live up to their expectations. For anybody that doesn’t know much about college field hockey, here are a few aspects to the game that you should know:

– There are 78 division I field hockey colleges in the country, and Davidson in North Carolina is the Southernmost college that participates.

– The NCAA is the owner of the tournament.

– There are 32 different conferences throughout the nation.

– Even though field hockey is a very confusing sport to follow, the tournament is structured similar to all other college sports.

– UNC has made it to the ACC tournament championship 9 out of the last 10 years, and they have been named ACC champions for the past 3 years straight. They are competing in one of the hardest conferences. They have been national champions for the past two years.


In the 39th annual tournament hosted by the NCAA, Boston College made their first ever appearance in the final four. I was especially excited for BC’s upset because I have played on the same team as a girl from Messalonskee that is currently a freshman on the team.

Even UMaine field hockey had their low games, but they also had some very impressive upsets. At the beginning of the season, UMaine field hockey lost to Merrimack College. Merrimack was recently transferred from a DII school to DI, so they did not have much experience. Their win over UMaine was their first ever Division I win. Later in the season, UMaine hosted Northwestern, who was placed number 5 in the nation. UMaine won with an overtime goal by senior Brianna Ricker. When the all American awards were announced, junior defender Cassandra Masscareneas was placed to the third team.

The teams in the final four were:

#1 UNC

#3 Virginia

Boston College

Princeton

Neither Princeton, or Boston College were expected to make it to the final four.