The University of Delaware field hockey squad, which won its fourth straight Colonial Athletic Association championship with a 4-1 victory over James Madison on Sunday afternoon at Fred P. Rullo Stadium in Newark, will travel to Durham, North Carolina, to face the University of Louisville on Nov. 12 in the first round of the NCAA Division I championship tournament.

The game will be played at 2 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 12, at Duke University’s Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium. In the last national rankings, UD was No. 9 and Louisville was No. 8.

“We are excited to represent the University of Delaware in the 2016 NCAA Division I Tournament,” said UD head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof. “We will face a well-coached and balanced Louisville team in the first round and we will prep for this game as we’ve done for all our games this season.”

Van de Kerkhof continued, “Our team and staff want to once again thank our fans who supported us during the CAA championship game at Rullo Stadium. What a great turnout and championship atmosphere we had. A special thanks to all of the Blue Hens student-athletes and colleagues that came out to cheer us on – thank you for being our 12th member out there. We are looking forward to having many of our UD field hockey family members and friends joining us in Durham, North Carolina, this coming weekend for more Delaware field hockey action.”

The Blue Hens (19-2) earned their fourth straight trip to the NCAA tournament after defeating James Madison in the CAA title game. This will be UD’s eighth overall appearance in the NCAA tournament.

The Cardinals (15-5) earned an at-large bid after falling to No. 5 North Carolina 3-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals.

The winner of Saturday’s second contest will take on the victor of the 11:30 a.m. game between No. 1 Duke (15-3) and either American (13-6) or Kent State (14-6), who will compete in Wednesday’s play-in game.

UD is 2-1 all-time against Louisville with wins coming in 2002 and 2004. The Hens’ lone loss versus the Cardinals came in 2009 as a part of the Duke Champions Classic in Durham.

Maryland, Syracuse and Penn State will serve as the other three host sites for the first and second round games. The winner at each site will advance to the NCAA Final Four Weekend on Nov. 18-20 at Old Dominion’s L.R. Hill Sports Complex in Norfolk, Virginia.

For more on UD’s CAA championship victory over James Madison, see the article on BlueHens.com.