OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University field hockey team (13-7, 5-1 MAC) travels to No. 17 Stanford (15-6, 5-1 AEC) for the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The two teams will play on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET.

The RedHawks won their third-straight MAC Tournament Championship on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Kent State. The Golden Flashes struck first with an early goal but two fourth-quarter goals by Miami secured the win. Miami reached the MAC Championship game with a 2-0 shutout of Appalachian State in the semifinals.

Against the Mountaineers, seniors Lexi Silver and Kenzie Peterson scored for the RedHawks while freshman goalkeeper Isabelle Perese recorded her third solo shutout. In the championship, Lexie Nugent tied the game at one to start the fourth quarter and Leonor Berlie had the game-winner on a penalty stroke with five minutes to play. Neely Lochmoeller recorded two assists on the week. Berlie was named MAC Tournament MVP and was joined by Noor Breedijk, Isabelle Perese and Lochmoeller on the All-Tournament Team.
 

OPPONENT PREVIEW

ABOUT NO. 17 STANFORD: The Cardinals won the America East Tournament last weekend, winning all three of their games by one goal.  In the quarterfinals, No. 17 Stanford shutout Albany 1-0. The Cardinals beat Maine in a shootout in the semifinals before besting No. 20 Monmouth by a 2-1 margin in the championship game. Corinne Zanolli leads the Stanford offense with 30 goals and 63 total points this season while Kelsey Bing boasts a 1.37 GAA with 114 saves and has two solo shutouts to her name this season.

SERIES WITH NO. 17 STANFORD: The Cardinals lead 6-2 in the all-time series against the RedHawks. The two programs most recently met in the 2017 NCAA Tournament in the opening round in which Miami earned its first NCAA Tournament victory by a 2-1 margin on Stanford's turf. Paula Portugal scored both of the goals for RedHawks as Miami led the game in shots (13-8), shots on goal (9-3) and penalty corners (8-1).

UP AHEAD: The winner of this opening round game will play at No. 1 North Carolina on Friday.