USA: College Games to Watch: DII Season Opener

Each week, USA Field Hockey highlights upcoming college games to watch. This weekend marks the start of the Division II season.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

Reigning NCAA champion and No. 1 ranked Kutztown will open up their season on Thursday afternoon against No. 5 Saint Anselm.

After picking up their first ever NCAA championship title last fall, the Golden Bears begin their 2024 season ranked number one overall and in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Preseason Poll. Returners include two All-American seniors – midfielder Juliana Donato and defender Sarah Gatehouse.

Saint Anslem is one of the Northeast-10 (NE10) teams that has been helping to build up the conference strength. The Hawks went 18-4 last season, defeating then-No. 3 West Chester and then-No. 2 Shippensburg in September, then going on to defeat Assumption in the NE10 final. The team boasts four on the NCAA Division II Watchlist – Maddie Davis, Millie Forster, Amanda Lewandowski, and 2023 NE10 Defensive Player of the Year Grace Michael. It’ll be a tough opening weekend for the Hawks, who face No. 1 Kutztown on Thursday and No. 2 East Stroudsburg on Friday. 

These two teams have only met twice before, in 2014 and 2016, with each picking up a win and a loss.

No. 9 Pace will host No. 8 Bloomsburg in Pleasantville, N.Y. to help kick off the 2024 season this Thursday.

A PSAC dark horse, Bloomsburg went 14-5 last season and shocked the division when they defeated then-No. 1 East Stroudsburg, 1-0. The Huskies then went down early in the PSAC tournament, falling 1-0 to Mansfield. This season, Bloomsburg enters with five on the NFHCA Division II Watchlist – the most of any team in the division – Bella Culp, Aydan McFarland, Meg Barnard, 2023 PSAC Freshman of the Year Genna Bush, and goalkeeper Jackie Nevel.

Pace went 13-8 last season, and was the only other team to defeat then-No. 1 East Stroudsburg in regular season play. The 4-3 win was one of seven overtime matches for the Setters last fall, who won out in four of them. The season ended for Pace after a tight 2-1 loss to Kutztown in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Setters return three-time All-American Krista Dietz and sophomore goalkeeper Celeste Pagliaroli. 

It’s always a tight match-up between these two teams. Last season, Bloomsburg took a 3-2 victory after an intense match that ended with shootouts. In 2022, it was Pace who was victorious – 2-1 in overtime. In their five meetings so far, each team has won when at home. 

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2024

Andrew Miller, SU Sports Info

No. 7 Mount Olive and No. 3 Shippensburg will clash this Friday at the Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex in Mount Olive, N.C.

2021 NCAA Champion Shippensburg begins their season by traveling to Mount Olive for the first time, having defeated them 4-1 in both 2023 and 2022 at home. The Raiders return two-time All-American Agus Garibaldi to their offense, who tallied a goal and an assist in the win over the Trojans last September. 

Now in just their sixth season, Mount Olive enters in the top-ten Division II rankings after notching a 15-2 record last fall. The Trojans’ started off their 2023 with a loss and ended with a loss – a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to Lander in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Championship. The season opening loss was at the hands of Shippensburg. This year, Mount Olive featured four athletes on the NFHCA Division II Watchlist – graduate student goalkeeper Alanna Barrett, senior forward Amber Dercksen, senior midfielder Annefleur Moerkerken, and senior midfielder Jule Schuurman.

Andrew Miller, SU Sports Info

No. 6 West Chester and No. 4 Assumption will kick off their season together for the fourth consecutive year this Friday. 

West Chester will be looking to start off the season strong and improve upon a 10-7 record from last season. The Golden Rams won the NCAA title as recently as 2019, and appeared in the championship match in 2021. The NFHCA Division II Watchlist includes four athletes – graduate student and First Team All-PSAC selection Paige Wolfe, senior midfielder Adriana Palumbo, junior defender Ella Shockley, and First Team All-PSAC selection Jasmine Miller, who finished last season with 37 points and ranked third in Division II for goals per game (1.06).

The Greyhounds just missed out on the NE10 Conference title last season, but are slated to finish on top in this year’s NE10 Coaches Preseason Poll. The team returns five of their six All-NE10 selections from 2023, including 2024 NFHCA Division II Watchlist selections Callie Beauparlant, Mia Salah, and May van Woundenberg.

West Chester has never lost to Assumption in their four meetings, most recently winning 6-1 last season. In 2021, the Rams shutout the Greyhounds 3-0 to advance to the National Championship match.