BOSTON - The No. 22 Boston University field hockey team will officially kick off the 2018 NCAA Tournament on Wednesday (Nov. 7) when it hosts No. 24 Miami in an opening-round contest at New Balance Field. Game time is set for noon.

Ticket prices for Wednesday's game are $5 for adults and $3 for youth/students. BU students will get in for free with their student ID. 

TIME TO DANCE

• Fresh off the 12th conference title in program history, 24th-ranked Boston University hosts No. 25 Miami in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Field Hockey Championship.
• The Terriers are making their 14th appearance in the NCAA tournament.
• This is BU's sixth time in the NCAA play-in/opening round and is 4-1 in the previous five.
• The Terriers and RedHawks met earlier this season in a neutral-site game at Northwestern on Sept. 8. BU came away with a 2-1 win.
• Miami and BU were the two winners in the NCAA Opening Round last year. 

TRIP TO NORTH CAROLINA ON THE LINE

• The winner will travel to face fourth-seeded Duke (15-5) in the NCAA First Round on Friday noon.
• Big Ten runner-up Iowa (14-6) will face ACC runner-up Wake Forest (11-9) in the other first-round game in Durham at 2:30 p.m. on Friday.
• The two winners will meet in Sunday's quarterfinal at 1 p.m. for a berth in the national semifinals, which will be held in Louisville, Ky.

PATRIOT GAMES

• BU captured its fourth Patriot League championship in five years with a 2-1 win over second-seeded American in the title game on Sunday at New Balance Field.
• The Terriers edged Lafayette, 2-1, in the semifinals.
• Senior co-captain Ally Hammel was named the tournament MVP and joined sophomore Petra Hall, junior Kiley Gallagher and senior co-captain Allie Doggett on the All-Tournament Team.

REDHAWK REVIEW

• Miami repeated as MAC champions with a 5-3 victory over Kent State in the title game. 
• Like BU, the RedHawks went a perfect 6-0 in conference play to clinch the MAC regular-season title.
• The RedHawks are making their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance and all of them have come under current head coach Iñako Puzo.
• Miami has two top-30 RPI wins on the year and they both came on the road. The RedHawks earned a 3-1 win at Pacific on Aug. 30 before topping Ohio State, 2-1, on Sept. 16. 

SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS

• Since falling to Boston University in September, Miami has gone 12-2 to tie the school record for wins in a season with 15.
• The RedHawks earned three major MAC awards with Iñako Puzo receiving Coach of the Year honors and Paula Portugal and Mariona Heras being named the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively.  
• Portugal is fourth in the nation in goals with 24 and her 52 points ranks sixth.
• Sophomore Leonor Berlie has tallied 20 points on seven goals and six assists while Heras has contributed 14 points on four goals and six assists.
• Four other RedHawks have tallied at least 12 points, including senior Estel Roig, who has a team-best seven assists.
• Senior Maddie Passarella has started all 21 games in goal for the RedHawks and her 1.11 goals-against average ranks eighth in the country. She also has a .671 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY

• This will be the sixth meeting between Boston University and Miami and the Terriers have won each of the previous five.
• Four of BU's wins were decided by a single goal while the other was a 3-1 victory last season in the Terriers' first-ever visit to Oxford.

COMMON GROUND

• BU and Miami have had two common opponents this season in Northwestern and Ohio State of the Big Ten. 
• They had opposite results as the Terriers defeated Northwestern and fell to Ohio State while the RedHawks topped the Buckeyes and lost to the Wildcats. 

BALANCED ATTACK
• Fourteen Terriers have scored at least one goal and 13 have tallied at least one assist.
• Sophomore Kiwi duo Ailsa Connolly (8-4--20) and Petra Hall (8-3--19) are the team's top two scorers, having combined for 39 points.
• The next three Terriers on the scoring list are all seniors. Ally Hammel has six goals and a team-best five assists while Kara Enoch 12 points on five goals and a pair of assists. Allie Doggett, a co-captain along with Hammel, has seven points and her three goals have come on just six shots.