By R.L. Bynum

Two-time reigning field hockey national champion North Carolina is No. 2 in the preseason NFHCA Coaches Poll released Tuesday.

The top-ranked team in the poll is Northwestern, which UNC has defeated 2–1 in the last two NCAA championship games — two years ago in Erin Matson’s last season as a player and last season in her first season as head coach.

UNC, which finished 18–3 last season, opens the season in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at 6 p.m. Friday at No. 12 Michigan, then meets No. 6 Iowa at 10:30 a.m. Sunday in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Tar Heels, who have won five of the last six NCAA titles and 11 total, garnered 17 of the 48 first-place votes, with Northwestern collecting 27, No. 3 Virginia two and No. 4 Maryland two.

Other ACC teams in the poll are No. 5 Duke, No. 7 Louisville, No. 10 Syracuse, No. 17 Boston College and No. 18 Wake Forest. In their final preseason exhibition game, UNC beat Duke 3–2 on Saturday.

Virginia is the preseason pick to win the ACC, earning the same number of first-place votes in the league voting with four as UNC, which was picked second.

Making the preseason All-ACC team from Carolina are Katie Dixon, Ryleigh Heck and Sietske Brüning.

Preseason Top 25

Rank	School	Poll points (1st-place votes)
1	Northwestern	918 (27)
2	North Carolina	899 (17)
3	Virginia	783 (2)
4	Maryland	771 (2)
5	Duke	714 (0)
6	Iowa	596 (0)
7	Louisville	567 (0)
8	Harvard	562 (0)
9	Rutgers	524 (0)
10	Syracuse	512 (0)
11	Liberty	397 (0)
12	Michigan	370 (0)
13	Saint Joseph’s	369 (0)
14	Ohio State	323 (0)
15	Princeton	313 (0)
16	Penn State	306 (0)
17	Boston College	304 (0)
18	Old Dominion	173 (0)
18	Wake Forest	173 (0)
20	Albany	107 (0)

Date	Month/day	Time/ score	Opponent/event (current ranking)	Record/ TV
	August		ACC/Big Ten Challenge
30	Friday	W, 4–1	at No. 8 Michigan	1–0
	September
1	Sunday	W, 2–1	vs. No. 7 Iowa in Ann Arbor, Mich.	2–0
			ACC-Ivy League Conference Crossover Louisville, Ky.
6	Friday	W, 5–0	Penn	3–0
8	Sunday	W, 2–0	No. 16 Princeton	4–0
			——————————
20	Friday	W, 5–0	vs. No. 15 Syracuse	5–0, 1–0 ACC
22	Sunday	W, 7–0	at No. 1`4` Liberty	6–0
	October
4	Friday	W, 3–0	at Stanford	7–0, 2-0
6	Sunday	W, 3–1	at Cal	8–0, 3-0
11	Friday	W, 2–1	at No. 13 Louisville	9–0, 4-0
13	Sunday	Noon	at Appalachian State	ESPN3
18	Friday	6 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ACCN
20	Sunday	1 p.m.	vs. No. 18 Old Dominion	ESPN3
25	Friday	5 p.m.	vs. No. 3 Virginia	ESPN3
27	Sunday	Noon	vs. No. 11 Boston College	ACCN
	November
1	Friday	6 p.m.	at No. 9 Duke	ACCN
			ACC tournament at Wake Forest
5	Tuesday	TBA	Quarterfinals	ACCN
6	Wednesday	TBA	Semfinals	ACCN
8	Semifinals	TBA	Championship	ACCN
			NCAA tournament
15	Friday	TBA	First round Campus sites
17	Sunday	TBA	Second round Campus sites
22	Friday	TBA	National semifinals Ann Arbor, Mich.
24	Sunday	TBA	Championship Ann Arbor, Mich.