UNC Field Hockey 2026-2027
- Thread starter 3397char
- Start date
Thank you, hiphopoptamus.
May I say very creative handle. Kudos.
Just two observations.
01. The "redshirt" designation is not used.
02. Olivia Anderson is not listed on the roster; but, her number, #18, is not taken by any newcomer.
Best wishes for her after her leg injury suffered during a later spring practice.
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Okay.
Thank-you, Sir.
Another observation: Emersyn O'Leary is not listed on the roster.
She still has UNC Field Hockey referenced on several of her SM posts.
I, however, never saw a UNCFieldHockey post that indicated she had been "signed" as is the case with the other eight actually enrolled.
Whatever the case, I wish her well.
ACC teams' roster composition, players' origins and possible implications of that.
Thoughts?
(Data below)
Thoughts?
(Data below)
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With the 5 for 5, I believe sophomore (or 2nd year) is the proper terminology now and going forward.
What is the maiden name of Ashley Hoffman's mom?
Brenda Stauffer Hoffman played collegiately at Penn State and won the National Player of the Year award in 1982.
In 1984 she was an Olympic teammate of Karen Shelton.
The USWNT won the Bronze medal that year.
Now, fast forward to 1996 when Cindy Werley played for Coach Shelton at UNC and won her first of two Honda Sports awards for Field Hockey.
Her jersey was retired in her honor.
Years later, Coach Shelton reached out to Cindy Werley Burgh and asked her if she would give her
blessings to allow a recruit to wear her retired jersey number if that recruit chose Carolina.
Ashley Hoffman enrolled at UNC in the spring of 2015. In 2018, Ashley won the Honda Sports Award for Field Hockey.
In the spring of 2019, UNC officially retired jersey #13 again.
She and the USWNT Eagles are currently in Belgium preparing for the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup Games.
Luke Brown has authored a nice piece about Ashley Hoffman you can find at the below URL.
www.usafieldhockey.com
Brenda Stauffer Hoffman played collegiately at Penn State and won the National Player of the Year award in 1982.
In 1984 she was an Olympic teammate of Karen Shelton.
The USWNT won the Bronze medal that year.
Now, fast forward to 1996 when Cindy Werley played for Coach Shelton at UNC and won her first of two Honda Sports awards for Field Hockey.
Her jersey was retired in her honor.
Years later, Coach Shelton reached out to Cindy Werley Burgh and asked her if she would give her
blessings to allow a recruit to wear her retired jersey number if that recruit chose Carolina.
Ashley Hoffman enrolled at UNC in the spring of 2015. In 2018, Ashley won the Honda Sports Award for Field Hockey.
In the spring of 2019, UNC officially retired jersey #13 again.
She and the USWNT Eagles are currently in Belgium preparing for the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup Games.
Luke Brown has authored a nice piece about Ashley Hoffman you can find at the below URL.
Hoffman Set to Continue Mission of Inspiration at Second Career World Cup
It would be a challenge to find a highly successful field hockey player in the United States who didn’t begin by playing in their youth program to get introduced to the game. But it might be even harder to find someone who can credit their own househol...
www.usafieldhockey.com
I would have guessed more PA and NED players at UNC given our connectio0ns to the WC eagles in recruiting. Both numbers will go up in successive classes.
The newly updated 5 in 5 rule should not affect when D'Ariano decides to enroll, even given no more redshirting to bank a year. she has a path for a gap year. so this could just be acknowledging the fact that she was homeschooled online and never was affiliated with a HS team, so decided to affiliate with UNC early.I had not noticed this until now.
Note the third line caption under the photo for #10 Ms D'Ariano.
FIH Hockey World Cup Roster
www.usafieldhockey.com
Soon.
FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium & Netherlands 2026
2026 USWNT World Cup ScheduleDateTime ETPoolVenueTeamTeamSat., August 1511:30 AMBBelfius Hockey Arena, BELArgentinavsUSAMon., August 175:00 AMBBelfius Hockey Arena, BELUSAvsScotlandWed., August 198:00 AMBBelfius Hockey Arena, BELUSAvsGermanySat., Augus...
From this recent USA Field Hockey article (posted this week)
"This fall, D’Ariano will begin her final year at Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School [online]. To give herself active eligibility to go to a Pennsylvania school, her dad, Frank, still lives in Pennsylvania. She spends some of her time in her home state, but otherwise lives with her mom in North Carolina, as part of the centralized program with the U.S. Women's National Team."
and:
"As of now, D’Ariano isn’t entirely sure when that day will come when she goes off to Chapel Hill for college. The next Olympic Games are in 2028, so a gap year to train in the 2027-28 academic year would make sense. Right now, that’s the idea she has. It could absolutely change if NCAA eligibility rules change between now until then."
As to how the new 5 in 5 rule as written right now affects her: she was born in Jan 2009. So she will not turn 19 until after the 2027-28 season starts. So she can take a gap year for 2027-28. enroll in 2028-29 at UNC for the first time, and still retain all 5 years of eligibility. That is... until they change the rule again
“I want to take the gap year and then do the Olympic [Games], but who knows what is going to happen,” said D’Ariano. “There could be another act passed that says once you graduate high school, you have to go to college right away. Knowing every situation and how we're gonna handle each scenario is very important to [North Carolina head coach Erin Matson], so we've definitely probably talked out way more scenarios than we needed to. But that means no matter what happens, we're going to be prepared.”
As has been previously mentioned, the 2026 roster is out here.
Returning players missing from the roster as of today:
- 2Y Olivia Anderson: played in 4 games before redshirting. I don't see any social media, so no indication whether she moved on?
Two notable exceptions from the incoming recruiting class I listed above:
- Floor Holzenbosch does not appear. We did sign her and she was listed on UNC official recruiting class release. She was also mentioned in a DTH recruiting class recap in late July. There are any number of reasons she may not yet be listed; so no alarm bells yet. But she was expected to be a major contributor. CORRECTION: there are previous posts in this thread that state she is repeating her senior year of HS. Future status at UNC is TBD.
- Emersyn O'Leary does not appear. She was never listed on the official UNC recruiting class and UNC has not posted she was "signed" since. But her personal Insta still says UNC Field Hockey, and she is listed in that DTH article above FWIW. So I have speculated in the past that maybe she is a recruited walk-on? What that would mean in the new rules is that she would have to try out each year and a roster spot is not guaranteed; only on the team if space is available. To be clear, still all speculation by me.
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Thank-you for the follow-ups, 3397char.
I look forward to Mr T's (Tommy Ashley) preseason EM interview.
Around the ACC -
If anyone attends the WFU at Duke exhibition, please let us know what you see.
Duke had an intra squad scrimmage on their FDoP.
UVa has a new assistant coach and a team roster not to overlook.
The last time Carolina was not the ACC Tournament Champion was in 2016.
UVa won 4-2 despite Tara Vittese going scoreless.
Go Heels.
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If I remember correctly, Floor, I think had some academic issues. I do not think she graduated and with have to return to her high school this year or take some more classes. The article I think said she was going to come next year. If the 5 for 5 rule does allow RH to come back and she wants to come back, I am very sure EM would be more than happy to say come on and let rewind this back for another year. Only time will tell. Yes, I did notice under RA name on the US roster, it state UNC. I liked that very much. Go Heels! Go EM! and Go team!
Thanks for the correction and reminder RE: Holzenbosch. I updated the post above. I will update post #1 in the thread eventually.
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Thank-you for the "heads-up" 3397char.
I am happy to see Molly Nussbaumer get top 10 recognition.
Mr T., please ask EM about Emersyn O’Leary.
On what basis does MaxFieldHockey include her in their list?
Thank-you.
Top 10 Recruiting Classes - MAX Field Hockey
Fresh off our Final Class of 2026 Top 100 Player Rankings, MAX Field Hockey officially locks in the Top 10 Domestic Recruiting Classes! Find out how Princeton University captured the coveted #1 spot, how the ACC dominated the national landscape with six programs, and which high school and club...
maxfh.longstreth.com
@TommyAshley, interview question for you in the quoted post.Thank-you for the "heads-up" 3397char.
I am happy to see Molly Nussbaumer get top 10 recognition.
Mr T., please ask EM about Emersyn O’Leary.
On what basis does MaxFieldHockey include her in their list?
Thank-you.
Top 10 Recruiting Classes - MAX Field Hockey
Fresh off our Final Class of 2026 Top 100 Player Rankings, MAX Field Hockey officially locks in the Top 10 Domestic Recruiting Classes! Find out how Princeton University captured the coveted #1 spot, how the ACC dominated the national landscape with six programs, and which high school and club...
Please forgive my ignorance.
I do not know what you mean by "interview question for you in the quoted post."
The World Cup Preview makes for a nice reference point to link one to people, places and streaming platforms.
Team photos depicts a happy and healthy squad just before a prep session.
Find and download the excellent WC 2026 Media Guide included in this article.
May I direct your attention to page 4 for the Quick Facts section.
In the tangerine colored rectangle, note the players' college origin and tally.
(Please note the totals include every college a player competed for. For example, Leah Crouse graduated from Maryland and then Dook.)
Go Heels.
www.usafieldhockey.com
Team photos depicts a happy and healthy squad just before a prep session.
Find and download the excellent WC 2026 Media Guide included in this article.
May I direct your attention to page 4 for the Quick Facts section.
In the tangerine colored rectangle, note the players' college origin and tally.
(Please note the totals include every college a player competed for. For example, Leah Crouse graduated from Maryland and then Dook.)
Go Heels.
FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 Preview
In just two days, 16 men's and 16 women's teams will take the pitch in Belgium and the Netherlands for the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup! The two-week-long nonstop action will showcase the world’s finest athletes as they battle for the coveted World Cup tr...
www.usafieldhockey.com
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Interesting to see we were voted first in the preseason ACC coaches poll!
theacc.com
ACC Releases 2026 ACC Field Hockey Preseason Poll, All-ACC Team
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – North Carolina was chosen as the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championship for the second consecutive year in a vote of the league's nine head coaches. The Tar Heels enter 2026 after winning their ninth consecutive ACC title...
theacc.com
I thought you wanted Tommy Ashley to ask Erin Matson about the incoming recruiting class; Emersyn O'Leary specifically? he plans to interview her, though it may have already happened. Dis I misunderstand your meaning?
Yes.
That is correct, 3397char, and I still do.
Thank-you kindly for asking.
I think what I failed to understand is, perhaps, the shorthand version for a reply that might be similar to the one below.
`During my interview with EM I plan to ask her a number of questions including the one you raised in the post by MaxFieldHockey Final 2026 Top 10 Recruiting Class which includes a player neither signed by UNC nor listed as, perhaps a walk-on, on its 2026 Fall roster. Namely, on what basis does MaxFieldHockey include Emersyn O’Leary in their list?'.
You and Mr T. are the Pro's. I can be, admittedly, rather wordy. My apologies and thank-you both.
Nussbaumer flew in out of nowhere (sort to speak) into the top 10 rankings in her class! Well done, perhaps someone we can expect to continue growing her game! I believe when she committed, she was not even recognized in the top 50.
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Thought that was very interesting especially since we were selected #1.
I assume they just don’t want to give the honors to our international girls that we expect to be very high level.
What an exciting game which I will refrain from commenting on beyond that. Why, because you can watch it on tape delay on CBS Sports or on demand on WatchHockey.com.
Heck and D’Ariano both did excellent jobs earning PCs, though the USA did not score on a PC.
argentina was faster both individually and as a team, and at times dominated the game. But ultimately they only scored on USA‘s one green card.
clean game, really well officiated. I have not watched much international play, but easily the fastest gameplay I have ever seen.
argentina was faster both individually and as a team, and at times dominated the game. But ultimately they only scored on USA‘s one green card.
clean game, really well officiated. I have not watched much international play, but easily the fastest gameplay I have ever seen.
Ashley Hoffman saved a shot off the line to preserve the draw.
Matson interview this week. I'll comb this thread for questions but I'll say, I'm not going to walk in with a scroll of questions....so narrow them down! lol
Should be a good sitdown with Coach Matson as things get rolling this season.
Should be a good sitdown with Coach Matson as things get rolling this season.
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