Wednesday, November 11, 2009

2009 NCAA Field Hockey Tournament Set, Every game to be played on AstroTurf


The field for the 2009 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship is now set and once again, it is dominated by teams that train and play on AstroTurf®. 15 of the 16 teams that will compete for the National Championship play their home games on AstroTurf 12®, the premium surface for field hockey in the world.

In addition, every game of the 2009 Tournament will played on AstroTurf 12™, including the Final Four and Championship games at Wake Forest University’s Kentner Stadium.
The facility houses permanent seating for nearly 4,000 spectators as well as a press box, upper-level viewing area, restrooms, lights, a state-of-the-art scoreboard, and concession facilities in addition to the state-of-the-art AstroTurf 12 surface that was installed in 2004.

AstroTurf 12™ is a short-pile, knitted nylon product recognized worldwide as the preferred surface for field hockey pitches, which require high degrees of planarity, extremely tight tolerances and sophisticated drainage systems. Endorsed by the International Field Hockey Federation (FIH) and USA Field Hockey, AstroTurf 12™ provides uniform traction and consistent footing, is UV resistant, has a low-glare surface and reduces watering and maintenance costs. AstroTurf 12™ has a storied reputation as the best surface, bar none, for field hockey. It started in the summer of 1976 in Montreal at the Olympics and for decades, from Argentina to Europe, from the Indian Subcontinent to South Africa – and throughout the U.S. and Canada – AstroTurf has been the surface of choice for hockey clubs, school programs, tournaments and organizations.

The NCAA Division I Field Hockey Committee announced the field of 16 teams for the 2009 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship on Tuesday. Five conferences were awarded automatic qualification. In addition, six conferences competed for three play-in berths and the remaining eight teams were selected at large.

The following conferences and their representatives received automatic qualification:

Atlantic Coast Conference - University of Maryland, College Park
Big East Conference - University of Connecticut
Big Ten Conference - Michigan State University
Colonial Athletic Association - University of Delaware
Ivy Group - Princeton University

The teams winning the play-in berths were American University from the Patriot League, the University of Richmond from the Atlantic 10 Conference and Stanford University from the Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference.

In 2008, Maryland claimed its sixth NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship title with a 4-2 victory over Wake Forest at Trager Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky.

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