The Syracuse field hockey team received 661 votes and a season-high No. 4 ranking the Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll released Tuesday. The Orange has been ranked seventh through ninth during the season, but moved up three spots after winning the BIG EAST Tournament last weekend. It is the highest SU has been ranked since it was fourth on August 25, 2008.
Syracuse has been ranked in the top 10 for 32 consecutive weeks. The Orange was ranked 17th on August 28, 2008, but moved up to number seven a week later and has not dropped out of the top 10 since. SU is also fourth in the latest womensfieldhockey.com Poll.
Syracuse will learn its fate later today during the 2010 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Selection Announcement which is scheduled to air tonight, Tuesday, November 9, at 8 p.m. The show will be streamed online via NCAA.com.
The top-seeded Orange won its fifth BIG EAST Championship tournament title Nov. 7. SU defeated No. 4 seed Rutgers 4-1 Nov. 6 in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship. Syracuse shutout No. 3 seed Connecticut 1-0 in the championship final Nov. 7.
Now Tuesday night the team will find out which opponent it will be competing against in the first round and whether it will travel or host the first two rounds of the tournament on November 13-14 here at J.S. Coyne Stadium.
Only 16 teams make NCAA Division I Field Hockey Tournament, with automatic bids going to the winners of the Division I field hockey conference championships and the remaining spots going to other teams based on their performances throughout the season.
Courtesy: SU Athletics
