Three CAA Squads Receive Bids to 2012 NCAA Field Hockey Championship

11/7/2012 2:19:00 AM

RICHMOND, Va. (November 6, 2012) - Drexel, Northeastern and Old Dominion have been selected as three of the 16 participants in the 2012 NCAA Field Hockey Championship, announced Tuesday evening. This is the first time since 2002 that the CAA has placed three teams in the NCAA Tournament and the fifth time in seven seasons that multiple CAA teams advanced to the postseason.

The Dragons (15-6, 5-2 CAA) will head to Charlottesville, Va., to take on Princeton (16-1), the second-overall seed, in its first round matchup Saturday. Also featured in the four-team bracket will be the host-institution Virginia (15-5) and Iowa (14-6).

Drexel received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship after winning its first ever CAA title with a 2-1 overtime victory over Northeastern. Drexel enters the tournament ranked No. 15 in the NFHCA Top 25 poll, and have been ranked in the poll every week this season.

The Dragons own a NCAA RPI of 18 and have picked up six wins over ranked opponents including a 1-0 win over then-ranked No. 5 Duke on August 31. This will be Drexel's second trip to the postseason after receiving an at-large bid in 2009.

Old Dominion (14-5, 7-0 CAA) will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. to compete against Michigan (15-6) in its first round matchup Saturday. Joining the Lady Monarchs in their bracket will be the NorPAC conference champion Stanford (15-6) and overall No. 1 seed North Carolina.

The Lady Monarchs earned a spot in the field after winning the CAA regular season title with a perfect 7-0 record in conference play. ODU will be making its NCAA record 30^th trip to the tournament and will be seeking its 10^th national championship.

Old Dominion receives an at-large bid to the tournament due in large part to its NCAA RPI of seven. ODU has wins over five ranked teams this season highlighted by a 2-1 triumph over then- ranked No. 1 Maryland on August 31. The Lady Monarch's only losses this season have come to teams ranked in the top-10 of the NFHCA Top 25 national poll, including a one-goal loss to potential second-round opponent UNC.

Northeastern (14-6, 5-2 CAA) drew the third-overall seed Connecticut (18-1) for its first round matchup which will be played Saturday in Storrs, Conn. Also in the Huskies bracket will be Lafayette (17-1) and defending national champion Maryland (16-5).

Northeastern earned an at-large bid after finishing third in the CAA standings and runner-up in the CAA Championship. The Huskies will be making their second consecutive trip to the postseason after falling in the first round to Penn State a year ago.

The Huskies enter the tournament ranked 12^th in the NFHCA Top 25 poll and has been ranked in the poll all 11 weeks this season, peaking at No. 7 on September 11^th. The Huskies also own a NCAA RPI of 12 after six victories over ranked foes highlighted by a 3-2 victory over then-No. 6 Virginia on Sept. 8^th.