The UNC field hockey team’s postseason will begin in the same place their regular season did. The Tar Heels earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament Sunday with their ACC Championship win over Virginia, and now Carolina knows what the first step on its path to a potential fourth straight national title will be.

UNC will face Northwestern in Iowa City Friday for their first round game, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The Tar Heels and Wildcats are part of a pod which includes the No. 2 overall seed Iowa and American. The Hawkeyes defeated Carolina 3-1 in August, also in Iowa City.

“We’re always thrilled to play in the NCAA Tournament and to represent the ACC as the conference champion,” UNC head coach Karen Shelton said in a release to Carolina Athletics. “It’s an extremely challenging field and we know beating Northwestern will take our best effort. We’re going to get some rest and then get to work preparing for a tough first-round battle in Iowa on Friday.”

Northwestern is 14-5 this season, with nine wins coming against ranked opponents. The Wildcats notably notched two road wins against Liberty and Iowa, both of whom beat the Tar Heels during the regular season. Northwestern is one of only two teams to beat Iowa this season. The Wildcats are 0-2 in neutral site games this year, while Carolina is 3-1 in such games.

This is Carolina’s 19th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, and their record 38th overall. The Tar Heels also hold records in tournament games played (101) and tournament wins (73).

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