U-M to Host 10 Games, Face Eight NCAA Opponents in 2011
4/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
April 11, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan field hockey team and head coach Marcia Pankratz announced the 2011 schedule Monday (April 11). The slate features the return of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge to Ocker Field as well as 10 home dates, eight games against NCAA Tournament teams and the six-game Big Ten Conference slate.
The Wolverines will start the 2011 season with an exhibition match at Michigan State on Saturday, Aug. 20. Michigan then hosts the ACC/Big Ten Challenge for the third time in school history. The Challenge will begin Saturday, Aug. 27, with U-M facing North Carolina at noon. Wake Forest then plays Iowa at 2:30 p.m. that day. The Challenge continues Sunday, Aug. 28, with the Maize and Blue taking on Wake Forest at noon and Iowa meeting North Carolina at 2:30 p.m.
"The ACC/Big Ten Challenge is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and it is a great marquee tournament, one of the best in the nation," Pankratz said. "It is awesome if you want to come watch great field hockey being played. We are excited to host it."
A two-game road trip to Temple and defending national champion Maryland follows the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Michigan will return to Ann Arbor for two straight weekends of play. U-M faces Central Michigan on Friday, Sept. 9, at 2 p.m. and Bucknell Sunday, Sept. 11, at 1 p.m. in the first weekend, followed by games against Ball State and Boston University.
The Wolverines begin the Big Ten schedule against the team they shared the regular-season conference title with, Ohio State, on Friday, Sept. 23, at 3 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio. Michigan goes to Oxford, Ohio, to play Miami the next day at 1 p.m.
Michigan celebrates Alumni Weekend the following week, facing Iowa on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 10 a.m. U-M will be celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the 2001 national championship during that game. The Wolverines then have an alumni game the next day at 10 a.m. at Ocker Field.
The Maize and Blue continues Big Ten play at Northwestern on Friday, Oct. 7, at 3 p.m. Michigan will stay and play Yale on Saturday, Oct. 8, at noon in Evanston. The Wolverines host Penn State before visiting Michigan State and North Carolina. Michigan closes the regular season with home games against Big Ten foe Indiana on Friday, Oct. 28, at 4 p.m., and a Senior Day game against Stanford on Sunday, Oct. 30, at noon.
Michigan will defend its Big Ten Tournament title Nov. 3-6 at Penn State University. The NCAA Tournament begins with the first and second rounds Nov. 12-13. The semifinals and championship game will be played Nov. 18 and 20 at Trager Field in Louisville, Ky.
"We are excited about the 2011 season," Pankratz continued. "It is a nice balanced schedule, home and away. I think that is important for the student-athletes to be able to be in class. I also think that it is a very strong schedule. It is a tough schedule, which we like. We embrace playing against the nation's best teams. Being one of them, we are trying to get better and better every year. We're trying to position ourselves to make a run at a championship."
The Wolverines ended the 2010 season with a 15-7 overall record, a 5-1 Big Ten record, a share of the conference's regular-season title and a Big Ten Tournament title. Michigan advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in school history, falling to Old Dominion, 1-0, in the first round.
Contact: Kent Reichert (734) 763-4423
