GAME DAY: Penn State FH vs. No. 5 Virginia

A Tale of Two Opponents

Penn State opens the 2026 Field Hockey season against one of the program’s historical foes, the Virginia Cavaliers, on Friday, August 28 at 4 p.m. The two have played against one another on opening weekend since 2009 and every year since 2007 (both excluding the COVID shortened 2020 season).

Virginia opens the season as the fifth-ranked team in the country by the NFHCA Poll and projected to finish second in the ACC per the conference’s preseason poll. The Cavaliers’ feature a trio of Preseason All-ACC players with backer Mia Abello, midfielder Mary Adams and goalie Nilou Lempers. Virginia is led by head coach Ole Keusgen (34-10) along with assistant coaches Carrera Lucas and Brendan Creed.

The Nittany Lions and Cavaliers have met in 32 contests since 1980, including two meetings in the NCAA Tournament, with Penn State holding the 21-11 advantage. Despite the historical success the Nittany Lions have had over Friday’s foe, Virginia has won the past three contests. Prince, in her tenure as St. Joseph’s head coach, holds a 1-2 record against Virginia, but won the most recent meeting in 2024, 4-2.

In the second of Penn State’s two opening weekend contests, the Nittany Lions host the Lock Haven Bald Eagles on Sunday, August 30 at 12 p.m. for the 46th meeting in series history. The two programs first met during Penn State’s inaugural season in 1964 with the Nittany Lions coming out on top, 5-4.

Lock Haven posted a 2-16 record in 2026, going 1-5 in the A-10. During last year’s meeting between the Bald Eagles and the Nittany Lions, Penn State recorded a dominant shutout victory on Charlotte E. Smith Field, 8-0. Natalie Freeman and Ella Jennes each tied for a game-high six points with the former securing a pair of goals and assists and the latter registering her six points from a hat trick. Joji Purdy, Olivia Marthins, Aubrey Semler, Sophia Mannino and Madison Tambroni all recorded points in the contest with Purdy, Marthins and Semler all scoring a goal. The Penn State offense outshot Lock Haven 31-7 with 77.4% of the Nittany Lions’ shots on goal. Aby Deverka kept a clean sheet in the cage with a pair of saves on the day.

Nittany Newcomers

Penn State Field Hockey welcomed nine newcomers to its ranks for the 2026 season: Macy Adams, Chloe D’Hage, Sienna Dunn, Ella Gaitan, Lilly Holmes, Lilah Grace Logan, Marie McCracken, Camryn Standish and Kira Takahashi-Trader. The newcomer class includes two transfers, six freshman and one international athlete.

Gaitan joins the Nittany Lions after a two-year tenure at Maryland. The forward saw action in 34 games as a Terrapin, starting 31, and accumulated 14 goals and 32 points. For her efforts, Gaitan was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team and Big Ten All-Freshman Team in 2024 along with a stint on the 2024 US U21 National Team after being selected for the US U18 National Team in 2023.

Dunn enters the year with a plethora of international experience. The Isle of Man-native was a member of England’s U16, U18 and U21 teams and was a 2025 England U21 team captain at the Junior World Cup. Dunn was a bronze medalist with Team England and a two-time BUCS gold medalist with the University of Nottingham.

Standish comes to Happy Valley after four years at Ohio State. While with the Buckeyes, the Pennsylvania-native compiled 28 start with 43 total appearances and tallied seven points. Standish was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team during her redshirt freshman season and is a two-time Academic Big Ten and NFHCA National Academic Squad honoree with three appearances as an Ohio State Scholar Athlete.

The rest of the Penn State newcomers and roster can be found here.

The Prince Era

On January 13, 2026, Penn State Field Hockey ushered in a new era with the hiring of Hannah Prince as head coach. Prince came to Happy Valley after an extremely successful four-year run at the helm of the St. Joseph’s Hawks where she compiled a 64-24 record, four consecutive A-10 titles, secured the NFHCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year accolade and was highlighted by a NCAA Runner Up finish in 2024.

Prince was also a successful player at UMass earning A-10 All-Rookie Team and All-Conference First Team recognition as well as NFHCA First Team All-Region honors. Prince, as a member of the United States Field Hockey National Team, won a gold medal at the 2017 Pan American Cup.

Prince has extensive coaching experience, having started her coaching career at New Hampshire, helping lead the team to a pair of America East title games during her three seasons there (2015-17). She left New Hampshire for an initial tenure at Saint Joseph’s as an assistant coach in 2017 and 2018, helping guide the team to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 2017. Prince transitioned to Princeton University in 2019 where she was part of the NFHCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year for the Tigers.

During her transition to Happy Valley, Prince brought along her associate head coach from the Hawks, Mark Wadsley. Along with Wadsley, Prince is joined by assistant coaches Janelle Ward, a former St. Joseph’s goalie during Prince’s tenure, and Ally Hammel from last season’s staff and US Olympian.