For years, DII field hockey has been a PSAC party. Every year from 2011-2023, a PSAC school won the DII field hockey national championship with Shippensburg winning five of those. Last year, Saint Anselm — a long-time NE10 field hockey power — finally broke through and brought home the title, ending the PSAC reign.
Now, the Hawks lost quite a bit of that national championship roster to graduation, so they will look to defend their first title with many new faces. Kutztown, which has made back-to-back championship game appearances, will also be going through a roster shift, losing five of their top eight scorers from its historic program run.
Here’s the bottom line: Shippensburg, West Chester and East Stroudsburg are all contenders on an annual basis. Each has won at least two national championships since 2011. But with change at the top, are there any other true contenders outside those big three PSAC powers ready to go the route of St. Anselm and win their first-ever national championship?
4 teams that could surprise in 2025
Southern New Hampshire: The Penmen are coming off a big season, posting the most wins since 2019. It was also their first DII field hockey championship appearance since that 2019 season. This is a program that made its return in 2014, which took a lot of bumps and bruises to get here, but head coach Julie Munson seems to have them heading in the right direction. Despite losing a ton of talent, heading into the weekend of Sept. 19-21, they were the only NE10 with a winning record. They have the top-scoring offense in the conference, and Minke van de Poll is leading the conference with five goals, with fellow forward/midfielder Zoe Demers right behind with four goals, one goal shy of her career high.
Newberry: If you think it was an outlier that a team outside the PSAC won in 2024, wait until you hear about teams outside the Northeast. They rarely make the tournament, never mind win national titles. The Wolves are still a relatively young field hockey program — established in 2013 — but they haven’t had a losing season since 2018. You have to think in the eight-team field (new to last year) that a SAC team will continue to be represented in the bracket, and the Wolves are as good as any. They are 29-8 over the past two seasons, each of those years finishing with one of the top-scoring teams in DII.
While they did lose their top point getter this offseason, Emma Westbrook — the team’s top goal scorer and seventh-best goal scorer in DII (14) — and Parker Keeler and Wibien Dahman — who combined for 15 goals and nine assists — are all back. There will be a new full-time face in net, but there seems to be enough talent to make a run to the bracket. The Wolves are off to a 4-0 start, having outscored their opponents 22-2 along the way.
Wingate: The Bulldogs are an interesting case. They are a young program that took big strides last season, improving from a four-win to a 13-win team. They lose arguably their best player in program history in Riley Cordrey — Wingate’s first All-American — but return a slew of players that played significant minutes, including Emma George, Grace Gerner, and Audrey Proulx who combined for 16 goals. The defense was one of the best in DII, boasting the fifth-best goals-against average (1.03). If the Bulldogs want to take another step forward, they have the backfield to do it.
Bloomsburg: I know what you’re saying. Aren’t the Huskies a PSAC power? In the grand scheme of things, they are the best that ever was, winners of a record 13 national championships. But the Huskies' last national championship was 2009, and until last year, their last playoff appearance was in 2011. This could be the dawn of a new age for the Huskies.
Despite losing their top two point-getters, the Huskies are off to a 7-0 start. They return seven of their top 10 scorers, including Genna Bush and Kate Ferguson who combined for 17 goals. When you look around at some of the other annual contenders — like Bentley or Southern New Hampshire — Bloomsburg is going through a lot less turnover. It could take a while to gel, but this team can make some noise.
