The journey for a fourth consecutive national title for the Tar Heel field hockey program begins in August, as UNC shared its schedule for the upcoming season on Thursday.

Head coach Karen Shelton’s program will be back in action after a shorter-than-normal break between seasons, as the 2020 campaign finished just two months ago due to the rescheduling around the coronavirus pandemic. UNC beat Michigan 4-3 on May 9 to earn its ninth NCAA championship in program history.

The 2021 season, though, will return to a normal fall timeline, with a rematch between the Tar Heels and Wolverines scheduled for August 27 as the opening game. The match will be part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge in Iowa City, Iowa, which will also include UNC facing Iowa on August 29. The 2020 season marked the first since 2002 where Shelton’s program did not open the season against Michigan or Iowa.

From there, UNC will play a rematch of the 2019 championship game against Princeton on September 3 before facing off against Penn on September 5.

The home opener at Karen Shelton Stadium comes on September 19, as the Tar Heels host Miami (Ohio) to begin a three-game homestand. Conference play will begin during that stretch, as UNC is scheduled to face Boston College on September 24. The three-game stretch, rounded out with a game against UConn on September 26, represents half of the home contests scheduled for the Tar Heel program.

The final home game for UNC is slated for October 22, as the Tar Heels will take on Louisville. Regular season play will be finished one week later, October 29, on the road against Virginia.

“We’re all just so excited for this season,” said Shelton in a release from Carolina Athletics. “The pandemic has been very challenging for everyone, impacting every facet of life – athletics is just a small part of it. We’re looking forward to getting back to normal on campus and also within our program, back to our usual travel and having fans in the stands. We’ve missed seeing the Tar Heel faithful at home and on the road, and we can’t wait to see everyone this fall.”

UNC field hockey players celebrate after winning the national championship in overtime against Michigan on Sunday, May 9 at Karen Shelton Stadium. (Dakota Moyer/Chapelboro.com)

The ACC Tournament for field hockey this year is scheduled for November 4, 5 and 7 in Syracuse, New York.

To see the full 16-game regular season schedule for UNC field hockey, click here.

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