Shippensburg women’s field hockey take over at No. 1 in week two DII coaches poll: NFHCA

Shippensburg’s Emma Albee, Kutztown’s Marissa Rice, and ESU’s Minke Klijn have played essential roles in helping their squads rank in the NFHCA poll.

With 10 games in the win column, Shippensburg women's field hockey not only recorded their fourth straight shutout recently against Slippery Rock, but they also captured the attention of a majority of Division II coaches in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association week two poll. 

The NFHCA poll, published weekly on Tuesdays, reflects coaches' assessments of college field hockey teams' potential for success. The Raiders earned a majority of votes and were picked as the No. 1 team to currently beat.

While their winning streak continued with a 2-1 victory over Mansfield, the Raiders' shutout streak was broken by a goal from Mansfield's Leah Toskey. Despite this, Shippensburg's goalkeeper Emma Albee reached a significant milestone, recording her 201st career save.

Notably, the game against Slippery Rock marked the second week in a row that the Raiders have played three games in five days without a loss.

The latest poll has Kutztown, which was formerly holding on to the No. 1 spot, dropping to No. 2. The Bears notched their sixth consecutive win versus D’Youville with a 9-0 score.

It was the Bears’ fourth nine-goal performance of the season. Erin Gonzalez and Marissa Rice are the Bears’ leading scorers. Rice leads Kutztown with eight goals on the year. Gonzalez sits just behind her with seven.

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) is again controlling the top three spots, with No. 3 going to East Stroudsburg. Shippensburg will face both Kutztown and ESU later in the season.

The Warriors scored four of their five goals versus Frostburg State in the first quarter of their latest meeting. Minke Klijn scored a hat trick with three goals, making her the team goal score leader with six goals for the season.

Newberry enters the poll by taking over West Chester’s spot at No. 4 following Newberry’s 3-0 upset. WCU was ranked No. 4 at the time. The Wolves’ goalkeeper Ayanda Mangenah finished the game with 12 saves, earning the shutout.

Southern New Hampshire drops to No. 10, despite winning in overtime versus American International. Minke van de Poll was the player of the game, scoring the two most important goals.

Her first goal was the equalizer, forcing the game into overtime with only 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter. van de Poll’s second goal was the game-winner, only 1:13 into overtime.

Bolded teams have moved positions higher or lower from week-to-week.

10. Southern NH, 4-2 (8)

9. IUP, 3-1 (unranked)

8. Lander, 4-0 (9)

7. Mansfield, 3-3 (6)

6. Bloomsburg, 8-0 (5)

5. WCU, 4-2 (4)

4. Newberry, 5-0 (7)

3. ESU, 7-0 (3)

2. Kutztown, 6-0 (1)

1. Shippensburg, 7-0 (2)

Thank you for reading Female Athlete News. Sydney Madden is a student-intern at Penn State University.