Division I College Games: 2023 Conference Tournaments

HOST: UMASS LOWELL | NOV 2, 3 & 5

With a win over Stanford on the last day of the regular season, UMass Lowell finished with both a share of the American East (AE) regular season title and the No. 1 seed for the first time in program history. The River Hawks shared the title with reigning AE champion UAlbany, who claimed the No. 2 seed. Both teams finished with a 7-1 record in conference, but UMass Lowell had picked up a 3-2 victory over the Great Danes earlier this season. The River Hawks’ lone conference loss was to New Hampshire, who slotted in at the No. 3 seed with a 6-2 record in the AE. 

AE quarterfinals begin Thursday, November 2 in Lowell, Mass. with a noon match between No. 4 California and No. 5 Vermont. California comes into the postseason with a 5-3 conference record, narrowly missing out on a higher seed after losing to UAlbany and Vermont in back-to-back overtime contests. The Bears are led offensively by First Team All-American grad transfer Bente Baekers, who helped lead Northwestern to their first NCAA trophy in 2021. No. 5 Vermont returns to the AE postseason for the second consecutive season after missing the previous six. It was an extremely even match when the Catamounts met the Bears back in September, with Vermont battling for a 4-3 victory. 

At 2 p.m. on Thursday, the second quarterfinal features No. 3 New Hampshire against No. 6 Maine. It’s been a productive season for New Hampshire, who picked up 12 wins – including a 1-0 shutout over top-seeded UMass Lowell. The Wildcats put up some impressive numbers offensively, with sophomore Tasmin Cookman sitting fourth in the nation for points per game (2.56) and Nicole Poulakis ranking fifth in assists per game (0.69). Maine is making their 16th consecutive appearance in the AE tournament, most recently winning the title back in 2021. When they met earlier this season, New Hampshire had a dominant 6-0 win over Maine.

The top two seeds in UMass Lowell and UAlbany both have a bye to the semifinal round, which will take place on Friday, November 3. UMass Lowell will play the winner of California versus Vermont, two teams they defeated by 2-1 scorelines this season. No. 2 seed UAlbany will face off against the winner of New Hampshire and Maine, who they both defeated 3-1 this season. The Great Danes show promise again after making a run in the NCAA tournament last season – like taking on then-No. 3 North Carolina in a tight 4-3 loss a few weeks ago.

The championship match is slated to take place on Sunday, November 5 at noon.

HOST: VIRGINIA | OCT 31, NOV 1 & 3

After a thrilling regular season, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) will begin their postseason on Tuesday, October 31. Some of the biggest forces in college field hockey will feature in this conference tournament, and although many will appear in the NCAA Tournament, there can only be one ACC champion.

The top seed was decided in dramatic fashion last Friday night when nationally ranked No. 4 North Carolina hosted No. 2 Duke in their final game of the regular season. The Tar Heels were able to upend the Blue Devils, 2-1, bringing their conference record to 5-1 and claiming the coveted No. 1 seed. Also with a 5-1 ACC record, Duke earned a share of the regular season title – just the second time in program history. 

North Carolina will have an extra day to rest as they receive a bye in the opening round of the ACC tournament, which will take place on Tuesday, October 31 at host site Virginia. Play kicks off at 1 p.m. with the fourth-seeded hosts taking on No. 5 seed Syracuse. The Cavaliers went 3-3 in ACC play, but their wins included a victory over North Carolina for the first time since 2016. Big non-conference wins included Penn State, Harvard, and Duke. Syracuse picked up their two conference victories over Boston College and Louisville, falling to Virginia 3-2 in overtime back in September.

The No. 2 seed Blue Devils will face No. 7 seed Wake Forest in their quarterfinal match. Duke has had an outstanding season so far, picking up additional ranked wins outside of the ACC over Maryland, Liberty, and Harvard. Senior goalkeeper Piper Hampsch has held strong against some of the top teams in the nation, holding a 1.02 goals against average, while sophomore Alaina McVeigh leads the offense with 16 goals. Wake Forest, who has struggled in the ACC this season, picked up a big 2-1 overtime win over Syracuse in their final conference match-up. The Blue Devils had a comfortable 3-0 win over the Demon Deacons earlier this fall.

No. 3 seed Louisville and No. 6 seed Boston College will be repeating their regular season finale in the ACC quarterfinal. In a tight contest, the Cardinals bounced back after four straight losses to defeat the Eagles 2-1 in overtime. It was a familiar story for Boston College, who has seen six overtimes this season — falling in five of them.

The quarterfinal winners will move on to the semifinal round, slated to take place Wednesday, November 1. North Carolina will play the winner of Virginia and Syracuse, while the other two winners will play each other. The final will take place in Virginia on Friday, November 3 at 7 p.m. The Tar Heels have claimed the ACC crown for the past six seasons, with Virginia last winning it in 2016. While the winner earns the conference’s auto-bid to the 2023 NCAA Division I Championship, you can expect to see quite a few ACC teams join them.

HOST: VCU | NOVEMBER 2 & 4

A pair of semifinals on Thursday open up the A-10 Championship, which features a duo of ranked teams and will be held at VCU’s Cary Street Field in Richmond, Va. Top-seeded Saint Joseph’s aims for a three-peat and their sixth conference title in their last seven tries.

The Hawks, who came in at No. 14 in the most recent NFCHA poll, dominated the A-10 regular season. Saint Joseph’s won all seven conference games and closed the year on a four-game winning streak. The Hawks averaged over three goals per game behind the 2021 A-10 Offensive Player of the Year Manu Ghigliotti, who has 11 goals and eight assists this year. They’ll face fourth-seeded La Salle, who have their most wins in a single season since the early 1980s thanks to a seven-game win streak. The Explorers are paced by the duo of Clara Larripa (11 goals, three assists) and Tatum Johnson (nine goals, six assists) as they look to avenge a 4-1 loss to Saint Joseph’s last Friday.

The other semifinal features the host, VCU — who won the lone non-Hawks title in the last six years — and No. 20 Massachusetts, who boasts an A-10 best 16 titles all time. The Minutewomen have been on a roll lately, winning five straight games since an overtime loss to Saint Joseph’s. Massachusetts goaltender Myrte van Herwijnen has been among the league’s best, ranking first in save percentage (.821) and third in goals against average (1.29). The Rams got the better of the Minutewomen in their regular season meeting, winning 1-0 behind a third-quarter Josephine Jense goal. Jense’s teammate, Mora Marrero, led the A-10 in goals with 12.

Seeds two-through-four all finished with identical records to necessitate a tiebreaker, setting the stage for what should be a competitive conference tournament. The final is set for Saturday, November 4 with the winner earning an automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Division I Championship.

HOST: TEMPLE | NOVEMBER 3 & 5

The City of Brotherly Love plays host to the 2023 edition of the Big East Tournament, with Temple hosting a pair of semifinals on Friday afternoon. After nine years of dominance by Connecticut, Liberty — this year’s top seed and ranked No. 6 nationally — won last season and will aim for its first-ever repeat and just second title all-time.

The Flames were perfect in conference play and lost just once all season to No. 2 Duke in overtime. Eleven straight wins have followed and that stretch includes an emphatic double-overtime win over then-No. 1 North Carolina. Jodie Connolly paces the offense with nine goals and 11 assists while the defense has been remarkably stout, conceding less than a goal per game. Liberty draws Villanova in the first round, a team they beat 6-0 back on October 6. The Wildcats will be looking for more offensive output — particularly from the high-octane duo of Meghan Mitchell (15 goals, six assists) and Amanda Middleman (10 goals, four assists).

Second-seeded Old Dominion has been similarly dominant down the stretch, winning 10 games in a row after a 2-5 start. The Monarchs have fallen in three of the last four championship games and are looking for their first A-10 title. They boast the conference’s top offense, highlighted by Marlon de Bruijne’s 17-goal campaign. The winning streak included a 1-0 shutout of their first round opponent, Temple. The Owls are also looking for their program’s first title and while they’re 0-3 against their postseason counterparts, two of those losses were by a single goal. Goaltender Molly Frey has been strong in the cage, ranking third in the A-10 with a 1.34 goals against average.

After Friday’s doubleheader, the championship is set to follow on Sunday, November 5 at 1 p.m. ET at Temple’s Howarth Field. The winner earns the conference’s automatic qualifier to the 2023 NCAA Division I Championship.

HOST: MICHIGAN | NOVEMBER 2, 3 & 5

It’ll be another big postseason for the Big Ten (B1G), whose seven participating teams are all currently ranked in the top-20 nationally and include No. 1 Northwestern. 

The tournament will be hosted by reigning B1G champion Michigan, with quarterfinals kicking off on Thursday, November 2. Opening play will be No. 4 seed Penn State against No. 5 seed Ohio State. The Buckeyes heated up mid-season, defeating Michigan and Iowa and nearly toppling Northwestern. They could not however defeat the Nittany Lions, whose Sophia Gladieux and Mackenzie Allessie assisted each other’s goals for the 2-1 victory.

Claiming the second seed is nationally ranked No. 3 Rutgers, who went on a historic 15-game win streak before falling in their final two matches of the season. Their first loss was a dramatic shootout defeat to No. 1 Northwestern, while their second was their final game of the season against No. 8 Iowa. Before those two games, the Scarlet Knights had won all six of their overtime matches – three of them going all the way to penalty shootouts. In an all-around strong team, Guillermina Causarano paces the offense with 31 points, while defender Puck Winter picked up an impressive 16 points. Rutgers will match-up against No. 7 seed and host Michigan, and will hope to repeat after their 2-1 overtime win over the Wolverines.

No. 6 seed Iowa will face No. 3 seed Maryland in the final quarterfinal match on Thursday. After defeating then-No. 1 North Carolina the first weekend of the season, the Hawkeyes enjoyed three consecutive weeks atop the national rankings. It would take until September 29 for Iowa to fall – 2-1 to Ohio State. It was a big season for freshman Dionne van Aalsum, who enjoyed several weekly honors and ranks second in Division I in points per game (3.44). It was another good season for the Terps in a challenging conference, going 6-2 with losses only to the top two seeds. Maryland had a 4-1 victory over Iowa in this year’s B1G match-up. 

B1G semifinals will take place the next day on Friday, November 3. Top-ranked Northwestern will be back after their bye day to take on the winner of Penn State versus Ohio State at 1 p.m. The Wildcats went a perfect 8-0 in B1G play this year, and 16-1 overall with their only loss being the first game of the season against Louisville. A nearly impenetrable defensive line that gave up only nine goals all season is complimented by a strong offense, led by Peyton Halsey with 11 goals and Alia Marshall with 17 assists. Senior goalkeeper Annabel Skubisz leads the nation in goals against average (0.52) and ranks second in save percentage (0.859). The two remaining quarterfinal winners will play after at 3:30 p.m.

The 2023 B1G champion will be crowned after the final at noon on Sunday, November 5. The winner receives automatic entry to the NCAA Tournament, but expect to see several B1G names move on as well.

HOST: DELAWARE | NOVEMBER 3 & 5

For the first time since 2018, Delaware will not be the Coastal Athletic Association’s (CAA) tournament champion. The Blue Hens, who are hosting the tournament for the eighth year in a row, missed out on postseason action by virtue of a tiebreaker which sets the stage for a wide-open bracket that beings play on Friday afternoon.

Monmouth — back-to-back regular season champions since joining the CAA — earned the top seed behind the conference’s leading goal scorer, Sofia Fouces (17 goals). The Hawks finished first after a come-from-behind win over Hofstra on the season’s final day. Monmouth opens up the tournament with a 1 p.m. matchup against fourth-seeded Northeastern, a team they beat back in mid-October, 5-3. The Huskies bring in the CAA’s top offense, averaging 2.9 goals per game, and are coming off of a dramatic double-overtime loss to Drexel in the season finale.

The second-seeded Dragons punched their ticket with that victory — Pien Elsen scored the game-winner, her second goal of the game — and are hoping for their first title since 2012. Drexel’s defense has been stout in the regular season, leading the CAA in goals allowed per game (1.11). The Dragons are strong offensively as well with the duo of Val Van Hellemont (12 goals) and Natali Foster (10 goals). They’ll face No. 3 William & Mary, who was the last non-Delaware team to win a CAA Championship back in 2018. The Tribe had the same conference record as Drexel, but the Dragons beat them convincingly in mid-October, 7-1. William & Mary won four of their last five games and were the only team to take down top-seeded Monmouth in conference play.

With plenty of storylines — like Monmouth trying to win its first CAA title in its second year in the league, Drexel and William & Mary looking to return to prominence, and Northeastern seeking a first-ever CAA crown after five runners-up finishes — the tournament figures to be a good one. The championship is on Sunday, November 5 at 1 p.m. at Fred P. Rullo Stadium.

HOST: HARVARD | NOVEMBER 3 & 5

For the first time ever, the Ivy League is holding a postseason tournament. After years of sending the conference’s regular season champion to the NCAA Tournament, the inaugural four-team Ivy League Tournament will take place at Harvard’s Berylson Family Field Hockey Field.

The regular season champion Crimson, ranked ninth nationally, finished atop the Ivy League standings for the second time in the last three seasons. Harvard’s unbeaten run through the conference coincided with a similarly strong non-conference slate that included wins over No. 10 Syracuse and No. 14 Saint Joseph’s. The Crimson own the conference’s top defense, anchored by goalie Tessa Shahbo and her 1.22 goals against average. They’ll face Penn, who they blanked, 2-0, in the penultimate weekend of conference play. The Quakers, headlined by Allison Kuzyk and her 13 goals, will need to break down the difficult defense

In the other semifinal, it’s the conference’s top offense — No. 17 Cornell — against Princeton, who beat them back in September. That was a thrilling game that took penalty shootouts to decide as the host Tigers squandered a 2-0 lead only to eventually win in seven rounds of shootouts. Cornell will look for revenge behind the duo of Caroline Ramsey and Grace Leahy, who rank first and third in the Ivy League with 24 and 13 goals, respectively. Princeton, meanwhile, will look to continue a modest two-game winning streak and defend their 2022 Ivy League regular season crown.

The conference’s first-ever tournament figures to be filled with excitement as the potential for the Ivy League auto-bid has expanded to four teams in the single-elimination format. The winner on Sunday, November 5 seals their ticket to the 2023 NCAA Division I Championship.

HOST: MIAMI (OHIO) | NOVEMBER 3 & 4

Can anyone end Miami’s reign over the MAC? The RedHawks, who claimed a share of the conference regular season title for the seventh year in a row, have won five straight conference tournaments as well. They’ll host the 2023 edition of the MAC Championship in Oxford, Ohio, as the semifinals get started on Friday morning.

Miami (OH) only dropped one regular season conference game to Kent State and finished the year on a three-game winning streak. The RedHawks had an identical MAC record a season ago and won the championship, a NCAA play-in game, and took eventual runners-up Northwestern to overtime. Miami has played a stifling defense this year in front of goalie Isabelle Perese, who leads the MAC in goals against average (1.25). They drew Ohio in the semifinals, a team they beat on the road, 3-1, in October. The Bobcats will look for big things in the rematch out of Katelyn Whittle, who topped the MAC in both goals (18) and assists (9).

If anyone could dethrone Miami it may very well be App State, the second seed, as the Mountaineers have completed an impressive climb under head coach Meghan Dawson. They have now won 14 games in back-to-back seasons and this year finished as co-regular season champions, only losing the tiebreaker for the top seed. App State has won nine straight games, a stretch highlighted by an upset of No. 8 Louisville in shootouts. They’ll look to extend that streak against Kent State, who earned a share of the regular season title in each of the previous two years. The Golden Flashes have a resume-defining win over Miami and took the Mountaineers to shootouts in their regular season meeting.

The final, which earns the winner an automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Division I Championship, is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 4.

HOST: WAGNER | NOVEMBER 3 & 5

There won’t be a repeat winner in the NEC as Rider — winner of five of the last seven championships — will watch from afar as four teams head to Staten Island and the home of Wagner for this year’s NEC Tournament. 

Still, top-seeded regular season champion Fairfield won as recently as 2021 and is expected to return to that pinnacle after a perfect regular season campaign in NEC play. The Stags topped the NEC in goals scored (48) and goals against (17) and feature the leading points scorer, Lucie Vincent (13 goals, four assists). They’ll take on the hosts, Wagner, who battled down the stretch to punch their ticket. The Seahawks won their last four games, three in NEC play, and took down the defending champions to win a vital tiebreaker. 

The other semifinal features Saint Francis, who started 3-0 and went on to its first winning season since 2017. Eva Valentini played a key part, following up her All-NEC 2022 campaign with a nine-goal, three-assist campaign.The Red Flash will face a familiar foe in the first round: Sacred Heart, who just beat them by a 2-0 margin in the regular season finale. The Pioneers have gotten hot at the right time, winning four straight games — three of which were shutouts. Goalie Samantha Maresca has earned Defensive Player of the Week honors twice and turns away over seven shots per game.

After Friday’s semifinal round, the championship game is scheduled for Sunday, November 5 at 12 p.m. ET. The winner earns the NEC’s automatic qualifier to the 2023 NCAA Division I Championship.

HOST: AMERICAN | NOVEMBER 2 & 4

The William I. Jacobs Recreational Complex in Washington, D.C. — home of top seed American — will play host to the Patriot League Championship, a tournament that has seen three different winners in the last three years. It’ll open with a Thursday doubleheader of intriguing semifinal matchups.

American went unbeaten in Patriot League action to earn its 13th regular season title since joining the conference in 2001. The Eagles are prepared for the intensity of the postseason having played no shortage of close games — four of their conference games were decided by a single goal and they played six overtime/shootout matches. They draw the conference’s top offense in the first round as fourth-seeded Bucknell averaged 2.3 goals per game. The Bison, who won back in 2020-21, took American to shootouts in the regular season. Bucknell’s Lily Neilson led the conference in goals with 13.

The other semifinal features last year’s runners-up, Boston University, and Lafayette — who is searching for its first crown since 2012. The second-seeded Leopards only lost to American in conference play during the regular season and clinched their tournament berth with a 3-1 win over BU. Lineke Spaans paced Lafayette, who finished with a plus-16 goal differential, by scoring 10 goals. The third-seeded Terriers felt heartbreak last year with the overtime championship loss but return to the postseason headlined by assist maestro Thalia Steenssens, who piled up a Patriot League best 10 in 17 games.

After Thursday’s matchups, the winners move on to a 1 p.m. ET final on Saturday, November 4. An auto-bid to the 2023 NCAA Division I Championship will be at stake.