Jump to content

NCAA Division I field hockey tournament

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NCAA Division I field hockey tournament
AssociationNCAA
SportCollege field hockey
Founded1981; 45 years ago (1981)
DivisionDivision I
No. of teams18
Country United States
Most recent
champion
Northwestern (3rd title)
Most titlesNorth Carolina (11)
BroadcasterESPNU
WebsiteNCAA.com
Current sports event 2025 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship

The NCAA Division I field hockey tournament is an American intercollegiate field hockey tournament that is conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and it determines the Division I national champion. The tournament has been held annually since 1981.[1]

The championship is contested exclusively by the women's teams and there is no equivalent NCAA men's field hockey championship.

The most successful team is the North Carolina Tar Heels, who have eleven titles. In addition, North Carolina has finished national runner-up an NCAA record eleven times.

The most recent championship, in 2025, was won by the Northwestern Wildcats.

History

[edit]

Field hockey was one of 12 women's sports added to the NCAA championship program for the 1981–82 school year, as the NCAA engaged in battle with the AIAW for sole governance of women's collegiate sports.[2] The AIAW continued to conduct its established championship program in the same 12 (and other) sports; however, after a year of dual women's championships, the NCAA overcame the AIAW and usurped its authority and membership. The first NCAA women's national championship events were staged November 21–22, 1981, in cross country and field hockey.

The tournament originally began with six teams but it has since expanded to currently with 18 schools; at different times a third-place game has been played as well. Under the tournament's current format, the 18 teams qualify for the tournament with two play-in games. The play-in games and first two rounds are played at the home turf of the higher seeds in each matchup. The final four teams then move on to the championship rounds at a predetermined site.

AIAW champions

[edit]

Past champions

[edit]
NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship
Year Site
(Host Team)
Stadium Championship Third Place Final / Semifinalists
Champion Score Runner-up Third-place Score Fourth-place
1981
Details
Storrs, CT Memorial Stadium UConn[a] 4–1 Massachusetts Old Dominion 2–1
(2OT, PS)
Long Beach State
1982
Details
Philadelphia, PA Geasey Field Old Dominion3–2UConn[a] Delaware 4–0 Penn State
1983
Details
Philadelphia, PA Franklin Field Old Dominion (2)3–1
(3 OT)
UConn[a] Massachusetts 2–1
(2OT, PS)
Northwestern
1984
Details
Springfield, MA Stagg Field Old Dominion (3)5–1Iowa Temple, UConn[a]
1985
Details
Norfolk, VA Foreman Field UConn[a] (2)3–2Old Dominion Northwestern 5–0 Boston U.
1986
Details
Norfolk, VA Foreman Field Iowa2–1
(2 OT)
New Hampshire North Carolina 4–0 Penn State
1987
Details
Chapel Hill, NC Navy Field Maryland2–1
(OT)
North Carolina Massachusetts 3–1 Iowa
1988
Details
Philadelphia, PA Franklin Field Old Dominion (4)2–1Iowa Northeastern 1–0 Penn
1989
Details
Springfield, MA Stagg Field North Carolina2–1
(3OT, PS)
Old Dominion Northwestern 2–1 Iowa
1990
Details
Piscataway, NJ Bauer Field Old Dominion (5)5–0North Carolina Iowa 1–0 Penn State
1991
Details
Villanova, PA Villanova Stadium Old Dominion (6)2–0North Carolina Maryland 2–1
(OT)
Penn State
1992
Details
Richmond, VA Cary Street Field Old Dominion (7)4–0Iowa North Carolina, Massachusetts
1993
Details
Piscataway, NJ Bauer Field Maryland (2)2–1
(2OT, PS)
North Carolina Penn State, Iowa
1994
Details
Brookline, MA Parsons Field James Madison2–1
(2OT, PS)
North Carolina Northwestern, Iowa
1995
Details
Winston-Salem, NC Kentner Stadium[3] North Carolina (2)5–1Maryland James Madison, Northeastern
1996
Details
Chestnut Hill, MA Alumni Stadium North Carolina (3)3–0Princeton Old Dominion, Northeastern
1997
Details
Storrs, CT George J. Sherman Family-Sports Complex North Carolina (4)3–2Old Dominion ·Virginia, Princeton
1998
Details
Philadelphia, PA Franklin Field Old Dominion (8)3–2Princeton UConn[a], Virginia
1999
Details
Brookline, MA Parsons Field Maryland (3)2–1Michigan Iowa, UConn[a]
2000
Details
Norfolk, VA Foreman Field Old Dominion (9)3–1North Carolina Wake Forest, Maryland
2001
Details
Kent, OH Dix Stadium Michigan2–0Maryland Wake Forest, Princeton
2002
Details
Louisville, KY Trager Stadium[4] Wake Forest2–0Penn State Old Dominion, Michigan State
2003
Details
Amherst, MA Richard F. Garber Field Wake Forest (2)3–1Duke Maryland, Michigan
2004
Details
Winston-Salem, NC Kentner Stadium Wake Forest (3)3–0Duke Maryland, Michigan State
2005
Details
Louisville, KY Trager Stadium Maryland (4)1–0Duke Old Dominion, Wake Forest
2006
Details
Winston-Salem, NC Kentner Stadium Maryland (5)1–0Wake Forest Duke, UConn[a]
2007
Details
College Park, MD Maryland Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex North Carolina (5)3–0Penn State UConn[a], Wake Forest
2008
Details
Louisville, KY Trager Stadium Maryland (6)4–2Wake Forest Iowa, Syracuse
2009
Details
Winston-Salem, NC Kentner Stadium North Carolina (6)3–2Maryland Princeton, Virginia
2010
Details
College Park, MD Maryland Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex Maryland (7)3–2
(2OT)
North Carolina Virginia, Ohio State
2011
Details
Louisville, KY Trager Stadium Maryland (8)3-2
(OT)
North Carolina Old Dominion, UConn[a]
2012
Details
Norfolk, VA L.R. Hill Sports Complex Princeton3–2North Carolina Maryland, Syracuse
2013
Details
Norfolk, VA L.R. Hill Sports Complex UConn (3)2–0Duke North Carolina, Maryland
2014
Details
College Park, MD Maryland Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex UConn (4)1–0Syracuse Albany, North Carolina
2015
Details
Ann Arbor, MI Phyllis Ocker Field Syracuse4–2North Carolina Duke, UConn
2016
Details
Norfolk, VA L.R. Hill Sports Complex Delaware3–2North Carolina Princeton, UConn
2017
Details
Louisville, KY Trager Stadium UConn (5)2–1Maryland North Carolina, Michigan
2018
Details
North Carolina (7)2–0Maryland Wake Forest, Princeton
2019
Details
Winston-Salem, NC Kentner Stadium North Carolina (8)6–1Princeton Boston College, Virginia
2020
Details
Chapel Hill, NC Karen Shelton Stadium North Carolina (9)4–3
(OT)
Michigan Iowa, Louisville
2021
Details
Ann Arbor, MI Phyllis Ocker Field Northwestern2–0Liberty Harvard, Maryland
2022
Details
Storrs, CT Sherman Complex North Carolina (10)2–1Northwestern Penn State, Maryland
2023
Details
Chapel Hill, NC Karen Shelton Stadium North Carolina (11)2–1
(2OT, PS)
Northwestern Duke, Virginia
2024
Details
Ann Arbor, MI Phyllis Ocker Field Northwestern (2)5–0Saint Joseph's North Carolina, Massachusetts
2025
Details
Durham, NC Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium Northwestern (3)2-1
(2OT)
Princeton Harvard, North Carolina
2026 Louisville, KY Trager Stadium
2027 Chapel Hill, NC Karen Shelton Stadium
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Used "Connecticut" as its primary athletic brand before the 2013 season.

Team titles

[edit]
NCAA Division I field hockey tournament is located in USA Midwest and Northeast
North Carolina
North Carolina
Old Dominion
Old Dominion
Maryland
Maryland
UConn
UConn
Wake Forest
Wake Forest
Iowa
Iowa
James Madison
James Madison
Michigan
Michigan
Princeton
Princeton
Syracuse
Syracuse
Delaware
Delaware
Northwestern
Northwestern
NCAA National Championships by school: 11, 9, 8, 5, 3, 1
Team Number Winning years
North Carolina 11 1989, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2007, 2009, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
Old Dominion 9 1982, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1998, 2000
Maryland 8 1987, 1993, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011
UConn 5 1981, 1985, 2013, 2014, 2017
Wake Forest 3 2002, 2003, 2004
Northwestern 3 2021, 2024, 2025
Iowa 1 1986
James Madison 1 1994
Michigan 1 2001
Princeton 1 2012
Syracuse 1 2015
Delaware 1 2016

Statistics

[edit]
  • Most Goals, Game: 10
  • Most Goals, Both Teams: 13
    • Maryland (2008; Maryland–8 vs. Duke–5)
  • Most Goals, Tournament: 20
  • Goals Per Game, Tournament: 5.67
  • Fewest Goals Allowed Per Game, Tournament: 0.00
  • Penalty Corners, Game: 31

Individual records

[edit]
Year Player Goals Assists Points
2006 Michelle Kasold, Wake Forest
Lauren Crandall, Wake Forest
1
4
7
1
9
2007 Katelyn Falgowski, North Carolina
Shaun Banta, Penn State
3
3
1
1
7
2008 Hilary Moore, Wake Forest 7 2 16
2009 Katie O'Donnell, Maryland 6 6 18
2010 Katie O'Donnell, Maryland 4 4 12
2011 Kelsey Kolojejchick, North Carolina 4 2 10
2012 Charlotte Craddock, North Carolina
Kathleen Sharkey, Princeton
6
6
2
2
14
2013 Emmie Le Marchand, Duke 5 4 14
2014 Charlotte Veitner, UConn 5 1 11
2015 Alma Fenne, Syracuse 5 2 12
2016 Greta Nauck, Delaware 4 1 9
2017 Charlotte Veitner, UConn 6 1 13
2018 Erin Matson, North Carolina 4 5 13
2019 Erin Matson, North Carolina 4 0 8
2020 Erin Matson, North Carolina 4 1 9
2021 Charlotte Vaanhold, Liberty 4 3 6
2022 Erin Matson, North Carolina 6 2 14
2023 Paityn Wirth, North Carolina 4 2 14
2024 Ashley Sessa, Northwestern 3 6 12
2025 Ashley Sessa, Northwestern
Sage Piekarski, Harvard
Beth Yeager, Princeton
Maddie Zimmer, Northwestern
2
3
3
1
3
1
1
5
7

Result by school and by year

[edit]

60 teams have appeared in the NCAA Tournament in at least one year starting with 1981 (the initial year that the post-season tournament was under the auspices of the NCAA). The results for all years are shown in this table below.[5] Conference affiliations reflect those for the upcoming 2025 season.

The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament:

  •  CH  National Champion
  •  RU  National Runner-up
  •  SF  Semifinals
  •  QF  Quarterfinals (Two teams in 1981, four teams thereafter)
  •  12 ,  16  Round of 16 (Only 12 teams, 1982-1998)
  •  •  Play-In Round (Starting 2013)
School Conference
(as of 2026)
# QF SF CG CH 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

ACC4235292211QF12QFSFRUQFCHRURUSFRURUCHCHCHQFQFRU1616QF1616CH16CHRURURUSFSFRURUSFCHCHCH16CHCHSFSF
Big East322617129SFCHCHCHRUQFQFCHRUCHCHCH12QFQFSFRUCHQFCHQFSFQF16SF1616QFSFQF1616
Maryland    
Big Ten363221138QFCH1212SFQFCHRUQFQFQFCHSFRUQFSFSFCHCHQFCHRUCHCHSFSFQF16QFRURUQFSFSFQF16
UConn    
Big East34271575CHRURUSFCHQF1212QFQFSFSFQF16QF16QFSFSF1616QFSFQFCHCHSFSFCHQFQFQF16QF
ACC19131053QFSFSFCHCHCHSFRUSFRUQF16QF161616SF1616
Big Ten2118953QFSFQFSFQFQFQFSFQF12QFSF16QF16QFCHRURUCHCH
Princeton    
Ivy League272010511212QFRUSFRUQFSFQF1616QFQFSFQF16CHQF16QFSFQFSFRU16QFRU
Iowa    
Big Ten29211241QFQFRUQFCHSFRUSFSFQFRUSFSFQFQFSF161616SF161616QFSFQFQF1616
Michigan    
Big Ten2013531RUQFCH16SFQFQFQF16QF16QF16SFQF16RUQF1616
Syracuse    
ACC1914421QF12QFSFQFQFQFSF16RUCHQF1616QFQFQF16QF
MAC94211QFCHSF12161616QF16
Delaware    
MPSF142211SF12161616•16CH161612161616
Duke    
ACC211774-QF1216QFRURURUSF16QFQFRUQFSFQFQFQF16SFQFQF
Penn State    
Big Ten352182-SFQF1212SF12QF12SFSFQFSFQFQF12QFQF1616RUQF16QFRU1616QFQF16QF16QF1616SF
UMass    
MAC271251-RU12SF121212SFQFQFQF12SFQF121212QFQF1616161616QF1616SF
America East11311-12QFQFRU12121216161616
Atlantic 108211-16161616QF16RU16
Liberty    
Big East6111-•16RU161616
Virginia    
ACC29156--12QF12121212QFSFSF1616QFQF16QFSFSFQF16QFQF1616SF1616SFQF16
CAA1683--SFQFQFQF1212SFSF121216QF16QF1616
Big Ten972--QFSFQFSF16QFQF16QF
Harvard    
Ivy League1052--1216161616QFSFQFQFSF
Temple    
Big East651--QFQFSFQFQF12
ACC1341--QF12QF161616161616QF16SF16
Patriot1531--SF12QF121216161616QF161616••
Louisville    
ACC1131--161616161616QFSF1616QF
Ohio State    
Big Ten721--121616QF16SF16
Albany    
America East721--161616SF1616QF
Penn    
Ivy League521--1212SFQF12
defunct111--SF
Rutgers    
Big Ten53---QFQF16QF16
Ball State    
MAC43---QFQF12QF
Stanford    
ACC182---121212121212161616161616QF1616•16QF
American    
Patriot122---16QFQF161616161616•1616
Providence    
Big East32---QFQF12
California    
ACC111---QF121212121616161616•
Miami (OH)    
MAC101---•1616•1216161616QF
defunct41---QF121212
Drexel    
CAA31---QF16•
defunct21---12QF
Indiana    
Big Ten21---QF16
Purdue    
defunct11---QF
Bucknell    
Patriot11---QF
Kent State    
MAC8----121616161616••
Richmond    
Atlantic 108----16161616161616•
Fairfield    
CAA7----16••16••16
CAA4----16161616
Lafayette    
Patriot3----161616
Ohio    
MAC3----161616
Monmouth    
CAA3----•••
Pacific    
defunct2----1216
Rider    
NEC2----12•
Division II1----12
Brown    
Ivy League1----16
Quinnipiac    
NEC1----•
VCU    
Atlantic 101----12
Maine    
America East1----•
Lehigh    
Patriot1----•
NEC1----•
Vermont    
America East1----•
Yale    
Ivy League1----16

All-time record

[edit]
  • Note: as of end of 2025 championship
  • school indicates schools belong to Division II.
  • school indicates schools that no longer sponsor field hockey.
  • School indicates they have win at least one championship.
  • Other bold indicates most in respective column.
TeamAppCF34GPWLTGFGAGDNotes
Albany70010102711117-6
American1200001641112047-27
Ball State4000073401418-4
Boston College1300101841312351-28
Boston University1500012261513243-11
Brown10000101006-6
Bucknell10000211023-1
California110000121921029-19
Chico State10000101003-3No longer sponsors field hockey
Connecticut335280774427616211646Two consecutive champion
Delaware14101024111304564-19
Drexel300004130314-11
Duke21043049282011129418
Fairfield 7000092611128-17
Harvard1000201771003240-8
Indiana20000312039-6
Iowa29136260292741109416
James Madison91010145811722-5
Kent State8000091801428-14
Lafayette30000303009-9
Lehigh10000101004-4
Liberty601001044216151
Long Beach State100013111330
Louisville1100101211011026-16
Maine10000101023-1
Maryland368580976527523815385Two consecutive champion (twice)
Massachusetts27014045152646394-31
Miami (OH)100000177913541-6
Michigan201220402117282820
Michigan State900201999141356
Monmouth300003030811-3
New Hampshire1101001321101844-26
North Carolina4211117011681269318165153Three consecutive champion (twice), two consecutive champion
Northeastern16003028121513853-15
Northwestern2132315125188976631Two consecutive chmapion
Ohio30000303017-6
Ohio State70010103701529-14
Old Dominion329350734922222412599Three consecutive champion (twice)
Pacific20000202025-3
Penn500018251816-8
Penn State3402246625383105127-22
Princeton271450623625115714710
Providence300004130512-7
Purdue10000101012-1
Quinnipiac10000101013-2
Richmond800008080428-24
Rider200002020112-11
Rutgers5000082511220-8
Sacred Heart10000101004-4
Saint Joseph's80100135801529-14
San Jose State400004040411-7
Stanford1800002131801871-53
Syracuse191120392017292839
Temple60010104601522-7
VCU10000101012-1
Vermont10000101012-1
Virginia290060491828397117-20
Wake Forest19325047311701268145Three consecutive champion
West Chester200003111431
William & Mary4000062401117-6
Yale10000101015-4

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "DIVISION I FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS RECORDS BOOK" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
  2. ↑ "AIAW Championship Results" (PDF). NCAA.org. NCAA. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  3. ↑ Facilities. Kentner Stadiumwakeforestsports.com Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Facilities. Marshall Centergocards.com Archived July 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "NCAA Field Hockey Records". NCAA. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
[edit]