The field hockey team’s road back to the Final Four will be full of obstacles.
The Blue Devils were dealt a triple blow Tuesday when the 16-team NCAA Tournament bracket was released. Duke will have to travel to Chapel Hill for the first two rounds, is not one of the top four seeds and may have to face the nation’s No. 1 team in the second round. The Blue Devils will play perennial power Old Dominion Saturday, and if they win, will likely have to face North Carolina Sunday.
“I think we thought we deserved to be one of the seeded teams, and we weren’t,” head coach Beth Bozman said. “We had spoken about that possibility. We knew regardless of where we were going to be, it was going to be the hardest bracket.”
The Blue Devils lost to the ACC regular season and tournament champion Tar Heels in a 2-1 thriller Sept. 25 at home.
“[Chapel Hill] is clearly the toughest site in the tournament, and it is unfortunate for us as well as North Carolina after our performances throughout this season,” Bozman said.
Although Duke was the fourth-ranked team in the nation in the STX/NFHCA poll released Monday, the NCAA committee chose to give No. 5 Michigan the fourth seed. ACC schools Wake Forest and Maryland picked up the second and third seeds, respectively.
Duke has topped No. 12 Old Dominion twice this season. The Blue Devils won 4-2 at home Sept. 19 and shut out the Monarchs 3-0 in Norfolk, Va., Oct. 17.
“I think Old Dominion got an at-large bid, which is always difficult,” Bozman said. “We played them twice this season and beat them, but our girls know to take nothing for granted.”
The Tar Heels will face Richmond in their opening-round game Saturday.
The Final Four will take place Nov. 19 and 21 in Winston-Salem. The Blue Devils lost to Wake Forest in a tight national championship game last season. It was the first time the Blue Devils had been to the title game.
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