2025 Northeast Conference Field Hockey Preseason Coaches Poll                   1. Fairfield (6)                 2. Wagner (4)                 3. Rider                 4. Saint Francis U                 5. Sacred Heart                 6. (tie) LIU                     Stonehill                 8. Merrimack                 9. Mercyhurst                 10. New Haven                First place votes in parentheses

Bridgewater, NJ -- All signs point to a rematch in the race for the NEC field hockey championship, with last year’s finalists eyeing another shot at the crown.

The top two vote-getters in the 2025 predicted order of finish were the last two teams standing a year ago, with defending champion Fairfield perched atop the preseason poll after earning six first-place votes. 2024 regular season champion and NEC Tournament runner-up Wagner claimed the final four votes for the top spot to place second.

Perennial contender Rider was tabbed third, Saint Francis U finished fourth and Sacred Heart capped off the top-five. LIU and Stonehill tied for the sixth spot with Merrimack (eighth), Mercyhurst (ninth) and NEC newcomer New Haven (tenth) rounding out the preseason rankings.

Following the retirement of legendary head coach Jackie Kane, Fairfield enters a new era under the leadership of Laura Gebhart. The Stags come loaded and primed for a run at their fourth championship. Fairfield has five key players back in the red and black for 2025, led by reigning NEC Tournament MVP and All-NEC First Team midfielder Catalina Ness. Joining Ness is a quartet of seniors in Alex Senior (Marlton, NJ/Bishop Eustace Prep), Pilar Mengotti (Madrid, Spain), Konni Hofmann (Dusseldorf, Germany) and Rylee LaLoup (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts). Both Senior and Mengotti claimed All-Conference second team accolades, while Hofmann and LaLoup garnered All-Tournament Team laurels.

The Stags boasted one of the best defenses in the conference a season ago, posting a 1.19 GAA overall and conceding a league low eight  goals in NEC play. Fairfield will aim to continue that defensive dominance under Gebhart, who comes to the Constitution State after spending four seasons as an assistant/associate head coach at Penn State.

Redemption is on the agenda atop Grymes Hill as the Seahawks look to make it back-to-back regular season crowns and bring home the program’s first NEC Tournament title. Second year head coach Aubrey Mytych has a young core that’s poised to guide Wagner to its sixth straight winning season in league play.

Reigning NEC Goalkeeper of the Year Saar van Dalen (Houten, Netherlands/Cals College Nieuwegein) is back in front of the cage after leading the conference in GAA (1.43) and tying for the league lead with four shutouts. Additionally, the rising sophmore was selected to the NEC All-Tournament team after the Seahawks advanced to the title tilt for the second straight year. Sophomore Romy Mathies (Hamburg, Germany/Gymnasium Grootmoor) aims to build off a strong postseason that saw her earn a spot on the All-Tournament squad after delivering a walk-off game winner in the semis against LIU.

Upon achieving full Division I status, Stonehill is now eligible to earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Likewise, Mercyhurst is now eligible for the NEC postseason, but remains ineligible for the NCAA Tournament until it completes its DI reclassification.

New Haven makes its conference debut on the turf this season after winning eight games at the DII level a year ago with seven of them coming in Northeast-10 play.

The 2025 NEC Field Hockey Championship will take place on November 6th & 8th at Fairfield. The tournament field will feature the top four eligible schools in the standings. It marks the first time in league history that the tournament will be hosted on Fairfield’s campus and the first time since 1999 that it will be contested in the state of Connecticut.

About The Northeast Conference
Now entering its 45th season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of ten institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Chicago (#3), Boston (#9). Hartford/New Haven (#32) and Syracuse (#88). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 25 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 16 different NCAA Championships. NEC full member institutions include Central Connecticut, Chicago State, FDU, Le Moyne, LIU, Mercyhurst, New Haven, Saint Francis U, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.