The women of the ACC are coming. The women of the ACC are coming.
All of the ACC's field hockey teams are coming to Williams Field on East Campus this weekend to play in the 2002 ACC championships being held Thursday through Sunday.
The tournament, starting Thursday afternoon at 4:00 with Duke (12-7, 1-3 in the ACC) versus Virginia (9-4, 0-4), will continue until Sunday afternoon, when the championship will be televised on Fox Sports South.
And unlike other previous years, the battle for the title is wide open.
"Everyone is thinking that anyone can win the tournament," Blue Devil head coach Liz Tchou said. "In years past there have been one or two teams that have dominated, but I think every team is beatable. We know that this is the ACC and every game is tough and you never know what can happen. A team can dominate and still lose, you just have to focus on the game and not the outcome."
And Duke, coming off strong performances against Virginia and No. 2 Michigan last weekend, has high hopes for winning.
"I don't think people realize how good we actually are," senior Chrissy Ashley said. "It's a matter of us coming out and playing the way we can. This weekend gave us confidence that we can play, score, and win against [the top teams in the country.]"
The Blue Devils opened up a 4-0 lead on the Cavaliers last Friday and hung with the Wolverines the whole game before falling 3-2, something they were not able to do in blowout losses to top ranked Old Dominion and former No. 1 Maryland.
The No.4 seed in the tournament, Duke, will face Viginia, the five seed, in a play-in game for the right to battle with top seeded Wake Forest Friday. Although they are not overlooking the Cavaliers, the Blue Devils are looking to do some damage against the Demon Deacons and beyond.
"Virginia we saw last week. We should be able to dominate if we play well," sophomore Johanna Bischof said. "As long as we get past Wake, we should have a good shot at it."
The Cavaliers are anchored by their defense, starting with goalie Emily White. Tchou speaks highly of her and warns of what her impact on a game can be.
"Emily White is a very good goalkeeper," Tchou said. "I think she is the best in the conference. UNC had 15 shots against them, and [UVA] beat them with a shot and a goal. You just never know what could happen. We need to really push to score in the first half. They get stronger and stronger as the game goes on."
Should Duke beat Virginia Thursday, it would face Wake Forest Friday evening. The Demon Deacons are currently the third ranked team in the country and beat the Blue Devils in Winston-Salem earlier in the season 3-0, although the game was knotted at 1-0 for most of the contest.
But that does not seem to faze many of the Blue Devil players.
"Rankings don't matter to us anymore," Bischof said.
Bischof returned to action last weekend after missing three games with a hand injury, notching three goals and an assist on her way to being named ACC conference player of the week.
She will be counted upon for scoring this weekend along with fellow sophomore Kim Van Kirk and freshmen Katie Grant. Van Kirk's ten and Grant's eight goals give them a team-leading 26 and 25 points on the year.
In the other semifinal game, North Carolina faces Maryland. The Terrapins were No.1 in the country for much of the season and beat the Blue Devils 5-0 in College Park over Fall break.
If the Tar Heels can tame the Terrapins and Duke can manuever its way past Virginia and Wake Forest, it would set up an all-North Carolina final and give the Blue Devils a chance for redemption. The Tar Heels downed Duke 5-4 in double overtime at Duke in October after erasing a one goal defecit with three minutes left in regulation and 3-1 at Chapel Hill two weeks later, spoiling the Blue Devils' chances of ending North Carolina's 48-game winning streak over them.
Standing in the Tar Heels' and the rest of Duke's opponents way is the success the Blue Devils have had at Williams field this season. They are 8-2 at home, with their only losses coming in the Michigan and North Carolina games, both of which came down to the wire.
"It's great to be home," Tchou said. "It's nice not having to travel and be in a hotel. I think the kids are excited because we are 8-2 on our field. That gives us confidence and anything that gives us an edge that way, fantastic."
Home field advantage or no home field advantage, Bischof is predicting success. Whether she knows it or not, she has some Joe Namath in her.
"We will defenitaly beat Virginia," the British Columbia native said.
"We will beat Wake in a close one."
And then?
"I'm not sure about the final. We'll see."
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