USA Field Hockey enter 2026 FIH World Cup with greater roster depth not seen in recent cycles
The USA Women’s Field Hockey team is scheduled to play Argentina in the organization’s opening of the 2026 FIH World Cup. Photo: USA Field Hockey
The U.S. Women’s National Field Hockey Team are entering the 2026 FIH World Cup cycle with an internationally tested roster — and early signs suggest that exposure to global competition is sharpening the team’s hockey IQ.
The United Eagles left for Europe at the end of July. They traveled to Spain to play in a few friendly scrimmages, where they adjusted to time zone differences and worked in a few trainings before the World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands.
The FIH World Cup runs from Aug. 15 to Aug. 30. All international field hockey matches governed by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) are streamed live on Watch.Hockey.
USA Field Hockey qualified for the World Cup one year ago after beating Uruguay in a shootout during the Pan American Cup semi-final on Aug. 1, 2025.
The States faced Argentina in the gold medal game, but the Argentinians had already qualified for the World Cup by claiming second in the 2024-25 FIH Pro League.
The States will again face their Pan-American rival — Argentina — in their first scheduled pool-play game of the tournament on Saturday, Aug. 15. USA are in Pool B, along with Argentina, Germany, and Scotland.
International qualifiers have created a tighter, more demanding pathway into the FIH Pro League, World Cup and Olympics, making the months between events a crucial window for roster decisions, player development, and tactical preparation.
That qualifying context makes the World Cup roster especially important: it shows how much experience the United States are carrying forward, where the team is adding new depth, and which younger players may shape the next competitive cycle.
Three athletes, who didn’t compete in the 2025 Pan American Cup, joined the World Cup roster.
Bethany Dykema, Ashley Hoffman, and Lauren Wadas were promoted to the 2026 World Cup traveling squad. Hoffman, the team’s most capped player at 136 international caps, is well-known globally.
Hoffman most recently trained with and played for Banco Provincia Hockey Club, a prominent field hockey club based in Buenos Aires, Argentina that is part of the Metropolitan Hockey Association.
The United Eagles defender relocated to South America after the Olympics, and did not compete in the Pan American Cup.
She most recently signed with Hockey Club Melbourne, in Australia, where she will continue expanding her international experience following the World Cup. She is the only athlete on the roster who has competed in a World Cup for Team USA, which was in 2018 in London, England.
Dykema (seven caps) missed out on the Paris roster, as she was rehabbing an injury. And, Wadas (14 caps) is also gaining her footing on the international stage.
Wadas was clutch at Northwestern, where she helped the NCAA Division I program win back-to-back national titles in 2024 and 2025.
Northwestern, led by head coach Tracey Fuchs, who is the national team’s assistant coach, also featured Ashley Sessa and Maddie Zimmer last Fall. Both Sessa, 62 international caps, and Zimmer, 80 international caps, are featured on the World Cup roster.
All three performers flexed their international experience in some of the toughest NCAA Division I tournament rounds in 2025.
Unlike the Paris roster, the World Cup roster features only two current college athletes, Sessa and Mia Schoenbeck.
Schoenbeck recorded her first international cap on January 19, 2025 against New Zealand in the FIH Nations Cup. Schoenbeck, who plays at Wake Forest, did not compete in Paris, but did compete at the Pan American Cup.
Reese D’Ariano, currently the youngest on the squad and who was on the Pan American roster, recently committed to the University of North Carolina, where she will continue her field hockey career. She is a senior at the Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School.
D’Ariano spent her 14th birthday in South Africa competing on the USA Women’s Senior Indoor Team. She has been gaining momentum as an influential athlete with having already earned 17 international caps for the women’s senior outdoor team and 17 for indoor.
With international experience spanning generations, the USA organization is seemingly more prepared for its fierce international competitors. The organization’s best World Cup finish was winning a bronze medal, earned in Dublin, Ireland, in 1994.
USA Field Hockey Roster:
Lucy Adams, Andover, MA, 23 caps, Brown University
Kelsey Bing, Houston, TX, 101 caps, Stanford University
Sanne Caarls, Nieuw-Vennep, Netherlands, 72 caps
Leah Crouse, Virginia Beach, VA, 72 caps, Duke University
Reese D’Ariano, West Chester, PA, 17 caps, University of North Carolina
Claire Danahy, Chelmsford, MA, 15 caps, University of Massachusetts
Emma DeBerdine (captain), Millersville, PA, 69 caps, University of Maryland
Katie Dixon, Cary, NC, 20 caps, University of North Carolina
Bethany Dykema, Newport News, VA, 7 caps, Liberty University
Phia Gladieux, Oley, PA, 32 caps, Penn State University
Ryleigh Heck, Ocean City, NJ, 13 caps, University of North Carolina
Ashley Hoffman, Mohnton, PA, 136 caps, University of North Carolina
Jenny Rizzo, Hershey, PA, 30 caps, Penn State University
Mia Schoenbeck, LaGrange, KY, 16 caps, Wake Forest University
Ashley Sessa, Schwenksville, PA, 62 caps, Northwestern University
Meredith Sholder (captain), Fleetwood, PA, 77 caps, University of North Carolina
Abby Tamer, Dexter, MI, 50 caps, University of Michigan
Lauren Wadas, Annville, PA, 14 caps, Northwestern University
Beth Yeager, Greenwich, CT, 73 caps, Princeton University
Maddie Zimmer, Hershey, PA, 80 caps, Northwestern University
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