Syracuse ranked No. 8 in National Field Hockey Coaches’ Association poll

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Syracuse field hockey was ranked No. 8 in the first Penn Monto / National Field Hockey Coaches’ Associations Division I National Coaches Poll of the season.

All seven Atlantic Coast Conference programs were ranked with the Orange ranked third in the conference with 589 points. North Carolina notched 955 points and Virginia garnered 676 points, ranking No. 1 and No. 6, respectively. The Tar Heels, which travel to face Syracuse Oct. 13, eliminated Syracuse from the ACC Tournament the past two seasons.

Syracuse faces other ranked programs this season, including Penn State who is ranked No. 5 in the poll. The Nittany Lions will host the Orange on Sept. 24.

While 10 players graduated from last year’s team, eight new players were brought in. Among the returners are Charlotte de Vries and Eefke van den Nieuwenhof, who were second and third on the Orange in points last season. De Vries and van den Nieuwenhof were named to the Preseason All-ACC Team earlier this week.

SU begins its regular season against Sacred Heart on Aug. 26 at 2 p.m in Burlington, Vermont. The season opening contest is part of a two-game weekend for the Orange as they face Vermont on Aug. 27 at 1 p.m.

This will be the first season under Lynn Farquhar, who was hired in February after Ange Bradley announced her retirement after 16 years with the program. Farquhar was an assistant on Bradley’s staff at Syracuse from 2007-2010, leading the Orange to three NCAA tournament appearances during that span.