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In 1998, field hockey became the 21st sport sponsored by the Northeast Conference. The sport was discontinued by the NEC in 2013 and then resurrected in 2019.
Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart shared the first title in 1998. In 1999, the first postseason championship game was contested with regular season champion Quinnipiac stopping Monmouth, 1-0. Rider came from the #4 seed to defeat Quinnipiac in the title game and win the 2000 tournament. The Bobcats turned the tables on Rider in 2001, edging the Broncs, 1-0, to capture their second championship in three years. Rider returned the favor in 2002, knocking off Quinnipiac for its second league crown. Rider and Quinnipiac met for the fourth straight season in the 2003 championship game, with the Bobcats scoring a 2-1 win over the top-seeded Broncs in the title match to win their third NEC championship. Lock Haven joined the conference as an associate member in 2004 and though ineligible for postseason play, went on to win the regular season championship. Rider edged Fairfield for the 2004 NEC Tournament title, its third in five years. Sacred Heart took home its first NEC crown in 2005 with a 1-0 win over Rider. Competing in its first NEC Tournament in 2006, Lock Haven came away with the title with a 1-0 triumph over Sacred Heart. Lock Haven repeated in 2007 with a 3-1 win over Rider and made it three straight with a 3-0 conquest of the Broncs in 2008. After Rider won the 2009 regular season championship, Lock Haven came back to take home its fourth consecutive NEC Tournament crown with a 2-0 victor over Monmouth. Rider earned its fourth NEC Tournament title following an undefeated regular season in 2010 then three-peated by taking the title in 2011 and 2012. Fairfield was ranked nationally throughout the 2019 season, then downed Rider in overtime, 2-1, to capture the NEC championship in the sports return. Rider won it's seventh title in 2020-21. Fairfield bounced back for a second championship in three years in 2021. Rider and Fairfield met in 2002 for conference supremacy and it was the Broncs who prevailed in OT for an NEC-best eighth crown. Sacred Heart won its first league title in 18 years in 2023. After three decades at the helm, Jackie Kane, who announced her retirement after a storied career that included 250-plus wins, left Fairfield’s field hockey program as a champion in 2024, the third title for the program. The Stats continued to roll in 2025, winning iit all for the fourth time, but for the first time as tourney host.
Following the 2007 season, Lock Haven's Blair Wynne was named a second team Longstreth/NFHCA Division I All- American, while Saint Francis (PA)'s Erin Reifsteck was tabbed a third team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American. Wynne, a three-time NEC Player of the Year, earned her second All-America honor in 2008 with her selection to the Longstreth/NFHCA second team. Rider's Virginia Egusquiza became the first player in league history to win thre straight NEC Player of the Year awards from 2009-11. She was named a third team NFHCA All-American in 2011 and the Broncs' Sandra Penas was tabbed to the third team in 2012.
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