Live updates: 2023 NCAA DI field hockey championship

There is a real possibility that the 2023 national championship could be a repeat of last year's. Let's take a peek at the final four teams left standing in this year's championship.

No. 1 North Carolina vs. Virginia | Keys: Corner conversions and limiting key scorers

Although not posting a perfect record as it has in three of its previous national championship seasons since 2018, North Carolina remains dominant in the field hockey realm. The Tar Heels beat out Northwestern for the top spot in the final NFHCA poll before the tournament, taking the No. 1 seed on top of being this year's final round host. Head coach Erin Matson — the all-time NCAA tournament scorer — has implemented some tricks this year from her own playing repertoire, coaching her corner offense to score 29 of UNC's 61 goals this season off penalty corners. The Tar Heels are also 4-4 in penalty strokes at the sticks of Sanne Hak and Lisa Slinkert.

But don't underestimate unseeded Virginia — the Cavaliers accounted for one of North Carolina's three losses this season. When they met UNC in the regular season, the Cavaliers downed the Tar Heels by holding them to zero conversions off of six drawn corners, while scoring on 2/3 of their own corner opportunities. But just two weeks later, UVA fell to UNC in the ACC tournament after converting 2/6 of their corners. So, what else didn't work?

In UVA's win over Carolina, the Cavs limited UNC's goal scoring to one attacker: Ryleigh Heck. But in their second matchup against Virginia, North Carolina spread out its scoring between three different scorers, and ultimately confused the UVA back line. To win this semifinal, the Cavaliers will need to pay mind to any and all of UNC's 11 goal scorers this year in order to not have any balls seep through the cracks of their defense.

No. 2 Northwestern vs. No. 3 Duke | Keys: Stamina and circle defense

Besides being the lone Big Ten team in the semifinals, Northwestern certainly has a chip on its shoulder from losing last year's national title game. If we're looking at numbers, the Wildcats are the best squad in contention. They lead the nation in scoring margin (2.23), save percentage (.878) and their 18-1 record is the best. Grad student Alia Marshall ranks second in the nation in assists per game, dishing out an even 1.00 per contest. The Wildcats also specialize in drawing fouls in the circle; their average of 9.11 corners per game is No. 2 in the nation — and the best of the remaining four teams in this year's tournament.

There won't be getting much past Piper Hampsch and the Duke defense, though. Hampsch's 277 career saves ranks fifth in Duke's single-season history, and the Blue Devils have posted eight shutouts this season — the most single-season shutouts in 20 years. It was Northwestern which handed Duke its first loss of the season in the ACC/Big Ten Cup and it could be the Wildcats again who close out the Blue Devils' 2023 campaign. In their September bout, Northwestern capitalized on two corner opportunities and ultimately outlasted Duke, which put up two early shots in the first, but was unable to keep its offensive momentum going. 

The DI field hockey tournament started with 18 teams, with three of the top-four seeds making it to the national semifinals. Here's how the semifinalists got here:

No. 1 North Carolina

• Def. William & Mary, 6-1
• Def. Harvard, 4-2

No. 2 Northwestern

• Def. Miami (Ohio), 3-0
• Def. Louisville, 3-2

No. 3 Duke

• Def. American, 2-1
• Def. Syracuse, 2-1

Virginia

• Def. Saint Joseph's, 2-1
• Def. No. 4 Maryland, 4-0

You can find the interactive bracket here.