NCAA Division III field hockey’s fastest starts: teams setting the pace

Be on the lookout for teams that ghost their opponents.

One full month into the 2026 season, the national picture is sharpening.

The NCAA’s latest figures reveal two very different paths to early control: relentless scoring at one end and clean sheets on the other.

Here are the Division III teams setting the pace.

Raw totals can reward teams that have played more games, so scoring average offers the cleaner comparison. Through games played Sept. 30, these attacks led Division III in goals per game:

10. Rensselaer — 3.75 goals per game. The Engineers close out a top 10 in which every team is averaging nearly four goals a night.

9. Westfield State — 3.89. Caroline Andrade has been central to the surge, ranking among the national leaders in both goals and assists per game.

8. Colby — 3.95. The Mules sit just shy of the four-goal threshold.

7. SUNY Morrisville — 3.99. The Mustangs are effectively producing four goals per game.

6. Sewanee — 4.00. The Tigers have turned early-season balance into a four-goal average.

5. Houghton — 4.43. Courtney Walbridge ranks among Division III’s leading individual scorers, while Kylee Barshinger is among the assist leaders.

4. Skidmore — 4.45. The Thoroughbreds edge Houghton by two-hundredths of a goal per game.

3. Christopher Newport — 4.48. The Captains pair a top-three attack with the nation’s best scoring margin.

2. Ohio Wesleyan — 4.78. The Battling Bishops are pushing toward five goals per game.

1. Bridgewater State — 5.75. The Bears own Division III’s most explosive offense, powered by national goals-per-game leader Samantha Souza and fellow top-10 scorer Abbie Zuber.

At the other end of the field, shutouts per game better captures sustained team defense than raw save totals, which often rise when a team allows more shots. The NCAA’s latest defensive table, through games played Sept. 27, features a crowded chase behind one clear leader:

6. Middlebury — 0.57 shutouts per game. Four clean sheets in seven games have helped the Panthers climb to No. 3 in the Sept. 29 NFHCA coaches poll.

6. Mary Washington — 0.57. The Eagles have blanked four opponents in seven games.

6. Franklin & Marshall — 0.57. Four shutouts in seven games have supported the Diplomats’ rise to No. 9 nationally.

6. Cortland — 0.57. The unbeaten Red Dragons have posted four shutouts in seven games.

6. Amherst — 0.57. The Mammoths round out a five-team tie with four shutouts in seven games.

4. Christopher Newport — 0.62. Five shutouts in eight games have made the Captains one of the nation’s most complete teams.

4. Babson — 0.62. The Beavers matched CNU with five clean sheets in eight games.

3. Rochester — 0.67. Six shutouts in nine games have anchored the Yellowjackets’ start.

2. Johnson & Wales (Providence) — 0.71. The Wildcats have held opponents scoreless in five of seven games.

1. Stevenson — 0.88. Seven shutouts in eight games have fueled an 8–0 start and a five-place jump to No. 6 in the latest national poll.

*Simmie Samra is a student-intern at Penn State University.

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