College Games to Watch: October 10 - 16

Each week, USA Field Hockey highlights upcoming college games to watch. This edition covers the week of October 10 - October 16.

Now just over halfway through the season, the stakes are high for teams looking to claim their spots in conference postseason play. Seven teams remain undefeated.

In Division I, only 2023 NCAA champion North Carolina and 2023 NCAA runner-up Northwestern remain undefeated. Shippensburg is the lone team in Division II without a loss, while four Division III teams – Christopher Newport, Middlebury, Williams and Wittenburg – are undefeated.

Ohio State’s (9-1, 1-1 B1G) undefeated season came to a close last Sunday in a tight match against rival Michigan. With a low amount of shots taken on both sides of the pitch, it took a single goal in the third quarter for the Wolverines to claim victory. Despite only having four shots on goal last Sunday, the Buckeyes are still outscoring their opponents 37-9, with Makenna Webster – who sits third in Division I in points per game (2.90) – leading the offense.

Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions (6-5, 1-2 B1G) look to come back after losing to B1G opponents Northwestern and Iowa last weekend. Fifth-year Phia Gladieux has scored 17 of Penn State’s 27 goals this season, and leads the Division in points per game (3.45) and goals per game (1.55). Gladieux scored twice against the Wildcats, becoming Penn State’s all-time leading goal scorer. 

After defeating Ohio State in their regular season matchup last fall, 2-1, Penn State fell to the Buckeyes, 4-3, in overtime in the first round of the 2023 B1G Tournament.

After a split weekend, Boston College (8-3, 3-0 ACC) will host the west coast Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) teams, California and Stanford. The Eagles shattered expectations on Friday with a win over previously undefeated No. 3 Virginia, but could not find the back of the net in a 1-0 loss to UMass on Sunday. In the victory over the Cavaliers, Madelieve Drion fired in the winning shot three minutes into overtime.

California (6-3, 0-3 ACC) found themselves in the national rankings in Week 4 after falling to No. 3 Virginia by a narrow score of 4-3. It was the first ACC match for the Bears, and their first loss of the 2024 season. Despite continuing to win all non-conference matchups, Cal is yet to pick up an ACC win, falling to Duke and North Carolina last weekend.

Lafayette will host Lehigh in The Rivalry this Friday night.

Lehigh (6-4, 1-1 Patriot) comes into this contest on a two game win streak, after defeating Merrimack and Quinnipiac last weekend. Ella Stephenson and Julia Gatelein each tallied in the 2-1 win against the Bobcats, while also picking up goals in the explosive 6-1 victory against the Warriors. 

Also entering this matchup off of two consecutive wins, Lafayette (7-4, 2-1 Patriot) looks to pick up another Patriot League victory. The Leopards most recently took down Bucknell, 2-0, and Providence, 2-1. In the two defensive battles, sophomore defender Katie Gibb was a standout player, tallying the winning goal and earning Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week. Junior goalkeeper Raffi Fragomeni received her third Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week honor. Both of these big wins should give them a confidence boost coming into Friday’s game. 

Since 2003, Lehigh has only bested Lafayette six times, falling the other 17. In their 2023 matchup, the Leopards were triumphant, scoring two goals in the third quarter, and held off Lehigh despite a goal and fourth quarter push. This matchup is historically highly competitive, fast paced, and could take extra time to determine the victor.

The Ephs (9-0, 6-0 NESCAC) faced a challenge this past Saturday against No. 11 Bates, winning the nail-biting match, 2-1. In a dynamic partnership, Kiki Higgins assisted both goals to senior Meagan Boehm. With the victory, Williams remains undefeated with an impressive six conference wins.

In terms of mutual opponents, Wesleyan (8-3, 3-3 NESCAC) downed Bates, 5-1, earlier this season. Both teams defeated Tufts by one goal, and the Cardinals’ recent 2-1 loss to No. 14 Amherst was a 2-0 victory for Williams several weeks ago. The loss was an extremely tight defensive match, with Leila Feldman scoring the lone goal for Wesleyan. This past Wednesday, the Cardinals took down Trinity 4-1 – compared to the 4-0 victory for the Ephs.

Last season, in Wesleyan’s first postseason game since 2013 – a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Quarterfinal – Williams defeated the Cardinals in overtime.

Sitting behind No. 1 Middlebury and No. 3 Williams in the NESCAC standings are No. 6 Tufts and No. 11 Bates. After falling to No. 14 Wesleyan, 2-1, two weeks ago, Tufts (8-2, 5-2 NESCAC) found success with back-to-back conference wins. A 3-0 shutout over Trinity was followed by a tight 2-1 victory over Amherst. 

Similarly, Bates (8-3, 4-2) followed their 2-1 loss to Williams with consecutive wins against No. 22 Hamilton and University of New England. Anna Cote scored twice in the 2-1 OT thriller against the Nor’easters, tallying her fourth gamewinner of the year for the Bobcats.

The Jumbos lead the all-time meetings by a wide margin of 24-3, and have won the six most recent matchups. Last season was a 2-0 victory over the Bobcats. 

Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) action kicks off this weekend, including No. 8 York hosting Stevenson.
After going ten games without a loss, Stevenson (9-2-1) found themselves some notoriety after their most recent two matches – both of which were losses. The Mustangs proved they could hang with the best when they took on No. 2 Salisbury and No. 4 Johns Hopkins. In the 3-2 loss against Salisbury, Stevenson became the first team this season to score twice on the Sea Gulls, even leading 2-1 at one point after Emma Gladstein scored back-to-back goals. Gladstein, who received MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week, is fourth in Division III in points per game (3.27). This past week, the Mustang defense was put to the test against a relentless Blue Jays offense, with sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Vradenburgh making nine saves in the 2-1 loss. 
York (9-3) was also unable to defeat the Sea Gulls, falling 1-0 last week. The Spartans did however defeat Johns Hopkins earlier season, 3-2, in overtime, and most recently took down previously undefeated No. 9 SUNY Cortland by a score of 1-0. Riley Buschert notched the single goal with a cheeky backhand shot, while senior goalkeeper Belle Fields made five saves on the day. Fields was chosen as MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week after picking up her 22nd career shutout win last weekend over Misericordia.

Liberty League matches continue this Saturday. Six of the eight teams, including No. 18 Rochester and No. 19 Ithaca, currently hold a 1-1 conference record. For Rochester (10-2, 1-1 LL), it was two tight double overtime matches – a 3-2 loss to Union and 3-2 win over William Smith. Grayson Honig was the hero of the victory over the Herons, scoring the tying goal in regulation and the golden goal in overtime. The Yellowjackets’ only other loss of the season was 1-0 to No. 9 SUNY Cortland.

Ithaca (6-5, 1-1 LL) has found opposite results to the same two Liberty League opponents as Rochester. The Bombers most recently lost to William Smith, 2-1, but defeated Union last weekend by a score of 3-1. Senior Juliana Valli tallied twice in the victory.

The last three meetings between the two have ended in overtime, with Ithaca taking a 1-0 victory in 2023.

This Sunday, No. 9 Harvard will take on their first B1G opponent of the year – No. 2 Northwestern. 

Undefeated Northwestern (12-0, 5-0 B1G) has been proficient this season, allowing just five goals in 12 games, with seven of their matches against ranked opponents. In this past weekend’s two B1G contests, NFHCA Division I Offensive Player of the Week Ashley Sessa had a hat trick in the 4-0 win over Rutgers and two goals and two assists in the 7-2 victory over Penn State. Lauren Wadas tallied the third (gamewinner) and fourth goals against the Nittany Lions. Goalkeeper Annabel Skubisz continues to hold the top spot for save percentage (0.911) in Division I. 

Harvard (9-1, 3-0 Ivy) has found success in their own conference play, going 3-0 in the Ivy League with wins against Dartmouth, Brown, and Yale. The Crimson have a few key offensive weapons, such as Emily Guckian and Emily Bronckers, who each tallied in the most recent 2-1 victory over Boston University.

No. 8 Saint Joseph's seeks revenge this Sunday against No. 3 Virginia, who ended their 2023 season in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.

Saint Joesph’s (9-2, 2-1 A10) was looking nearly unbeatable until a 2-1 loss to Atlantic 10 (A10) rival UMass two weeks ago. The Hawks responded to the loss by unleashing offensive fury on their next opponent, breaking the conference record for goals in a game when they defeated Lock Haven, 13-1. Manu Ghigliotti picked up two goals and two assists before scoring the OT gamewinner two days later against Delaware. Ghigliotti was dubbed the A10 Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts.

Virginia (10-1, 4-1 ACC) suffered their own heartbreak when they fell to Boston College, 2-1, in overtime last Friday. The Cavaliers had been undefeated until then, taking down ranked opponents like Duke, Maryland, and Liberty. This past Sunday, Taryn Tkachuk’s fourth quarter goal put Virginia back on track with a 1-0 win against Louisville.

It’s a top-two battle as No. 2 Kutztown travels to take on undefeated No. 1 Shippensburg.

Earlier this season when the two met for a non-conference meeting, Shippensburg was ranked No. 2 and Kutztown was No. 1. Those numbers swapped after Shippensburg (10-0, 3-0 PSAC) came out on top with a huge 2-0 victory. Nya Gilchrist and Raiders’ offensive leader Agus Garibaldi both scored in the match. Since then, Shippensburg has taken down No. 4 Bloomsburg, Millersville, and No. 5 West Chester to stay a perfect 3-0 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play.

2023 NCAA Champion Kutztown (9-1, 3-0 PSAC) also has an unblemished PSAC record. Their three most recent matches were all tight conference wins – a 4-3 OT win over No. 3 East Stroudsburg, 1-0 win in shootouts over IUP, and a 2-1 victory over No. 4 Bloomsburg. Erin Gonzalez, who netted the overtime winner against ESU, leads the Golden Bears with seven goals and three gamewinners.

Bentley will rematch No. 6 Southern New Hampshire – this time with conference implications – on Tuesday night.

This fall has been a good one so far for Southern New Hampshire (9-1, 6-0 NE10). The Penmen kicked off the season with a 3-2 win over Northeast 10 (NE10) rival Pace, took a 3-0 victory over then-No. 4 Assumption, and most recently shutout No. 10 Saint Anselm, 1-0. Their only loss came early in the season against then-No. 1 Kutztown. In Tuesday night’s win over the Hawks, Penmen star and NE10 Player of the Week Annemartine Christis scored the lone goal in overtime. Christis has now scored in nine out of ten games this season, leads Division II in points per game (4.56) and goals per game (1.89), and is tied with teammate Anne Wiersma for assists per game (0.78). The defense is anchored by junior goalkeeper Emma Peeters, who had 8 saves in the recent win and has three straight shutouts. 

Bentley (6-5, 5-1 NE10) has grinded their way back from a 0-4 start to the season to a .545 win percentage. All of the Falcons’ five losses were to teams that are currently ranked – No. 5 West Chester, No. 3 East Stroudsburg, No. 2 Kutztown, No. 10 Saint Anselm,  and the No. 6 Penmen. Their single win against a ranked opponent was a 2-1 victory over then-No. 3 Assumption back in September. 

In their non-conference matchup earlier this fall, Southern New Hampshire came back from a one goal deficit to win 2-1.

No. 3 East Stroudsburg and No. 4 Bloomsburg will meet in another PSAC matchup on Wednesday.

For East Stroudsburg (10-2, 2-1 PSAC), their only conference loss so far was 4-3 to No. 2 Kutztown, but the Warriors bounced back with wins over Mansfield and Millersville this past week. PSAC Athlete of the Week and NFHCA Division II Offensive Player of the Week Jady van Gils assisted all three goals in the loss to Kutztown, in addition to Minke Klijn’s gamewinner in the recent 1-0 victory over Millersville.  

In their most recent match, Bloomsburg (10-3, 2-2 PSAC) fell to No. 2 Kutztown, 2-1. The early goal from Kara Koch was not enough to withstand the barrage of offense from the Golden Bears. Previously, the Huskies had picked up a pair of conference wins over Frostburg State and West Chester.

The single Coast-to-Coast (C2C) Conference showdown happens this Wednesday afternoon in Salisbury, Md.

Despite its size, the C2C Conference is packed with talent. At No. 2, Salisbury (10-1) has taken down ranked opponents like then-No. 5 Messiah, No. 4 Johns Hopkins, and most recently No. 8 York. Key players like Marli McDorman, Arden Hunteman, Hannah Johnson continue to shine for the Sea Gulls, with McDorman picking up her third C2C Offensive Player of the Week honor after scoring the gamewinner against York. Johnson was dubbed C2C Defensive Player of the Week, also for the third time, for her solid work on the backline. Salisbury’s lone loss was 2-1 at the hands of No. 15 Shenandoah back in September.

No. 5 Christopher Newport (9-0) comes into the match undefeated, outscoring opponents 28-4. The Diplomats took down No. 8 York, 2-1, a few weeks ago, and most recently shutout Catholic and Centre. Offensive leader Maddison Steele tallied three times in the two victories.