GAME DAY: Penn State FH vs. Princeton

Welcoming the Tigers to Town

No. 4 Princeton enters Sunday’s matchup after splitting the team’s opening weekend slate.

The Tigers took care of business in the season opener over Old Dominion, 4-0, before falling in dramatic fashion in shootouts against North Carolina with both contests taking place in Chapel Hill.

Princeton is led on offense by Anna Faulstich with a trio of points in the young season with Hope Delaney, Pru Lindsey and Molly Nye all securing multi-point outings so far. Faulstich, Reese Milone and Tabby Vaughan all have recorded assists. In the cage, Olivia Caponiti has yet to allow a goal past her in 150 minutes of play with four saves. The Tigers are helmed by Carla Tagliente alongside associate head coach Dina Rizzo and assistant coaches Pattie Gillern and Pat Harris.

Awards-wise, Princeton’s Gabriella Anderson was named the Ivy League Co-Defensive Player of the Week after playing every minute in the Tigers’ first two games.

The Tigers will make their home debut against fellow Big Ten school Rutgers on Friday, September 11 before heading to University Park for the September 13 match up.

Everybody Love Penn State Field Hockey

After two weekends at home, Penn State is still the nation’s leader in average and total attendance at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex.

In the first weekend of competition, 1,214 people spent their afternoons watching Penn State Field Hockey with the opening game against Virginia bringing in 792 souls, the biggest crowd at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex since October 22, 2023 when the Nittany Lions defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes in the team’s regular season finale.

During the second slate of games, the Nittany Lions welcomed an additional 718 fans to the confines of the Penn State Field Hockey Complex. Penn State’s average attendance sits at 483 fans per game while the total attendance rests at 1,932 fans.

National Recognition

Deverka was named both the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and the NFHCA National Defensive Player of the Week thanks to her efforts on the weekend.

Deverka is the first Penn State field hockey player this season to earn a Big Ten weekly award and is her third Big Ten weekly honor after earning two Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors in 2024. She is the first Penn State player to earn a Big Ten weekly accolade since Phia Gladieux was named in Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week in late September of 2024. Deverka is the first Nittany Lion to earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week distinctions since Anouk Knuvers did so in October of 2023.

Derverka was the first Penn State player to earn a NFHCA weekly accolade since Gladieux was named NFHCA Offensive Player of the Week in late October of 2023. Deverka is the first Nittany Lion ever to earn the NFHCA Defensive Player of the Week distinction.

The junior goalkeeper has had an extremely effective start to her 2026 campaign. In her four games in the cage, Deverka has registered a pair of clean sheets while registering a Big Ten-leading 19 saves. Against the Wildcats, she secured a clean sheet with four saves on four shots on goal against Villanova while facing three penalty corners. While facing the Delaware, Deverka recorded a season-high nine saves against 10 shots on goal against the Blue Hens with five penalty corners headed in her direction.

Weekend Two Recap

Penn State swept the second weekend of the Prince-era, defeating Villanova and Delaware, 2-0 and 2-1, respectively.

The Nittany Lions recorded the team’s second shutout of the season against Villanova.

Senior captain Natalie Freeman led all Penn State players with five shots and three points while Joji Purdy scored off a penalty corner for the second straight game. Freeman, sophomore Lara Pyle and newcomer Sienna Dunn all recorded assists on the afternoon. In the cage, Aby Deverka notched a season-high four saves on four shots faced while putting together another clean sheet. The Nittany Lions outshot the Wildcats, 13-10, and held the advantage in penalty corners, 4-3.

A pair of goals from junior transfer Ella Gaitan pushed Penn State past Delaware.

Newcomers headlined the Penn State offensive outing. Gaitan scored both Nittany Lions’ goals on the afternoon for her first multi-goal and four-point outing since 2024 when she played the Michigan State Spartans with the Maryland Terrapins. D’Hage, Standish and Dunn all recorded assists against the Blue Hens. Deverka recorded nine saves on 10 shots on goal to push herself past 150 career saves.

Offensive Fireworks

Through four games in the young 2026 season, Penn State’s offense has shown potential to be one of the best in the Big Ten and in the country.

The Nittany Lions are top-two in the Big Ten in assists per game (4.25), goals per game (3.75), points per game (11.75), scoring average (3.67) and scoring margin (2.44) while being top-15 in NCAA Division I in all categories.

Sienna Dunn has made her mark as one of the best assisters in the early going of the 2026 campaign. The Isle of Man newcomer’s five assists are tied for the conference and the national lead through four games. Alongside Dunn, Pyle, Cam Standish and D’Hage are all ranked within the top-10 in assists per game in the conference.

Junior transfer Ella Gaitan currently leads the Nittany Lions with four goals on the year after her two-goal outing against Delaware and is top-20 nationally while being fourth in the Big Ten in goals per game. Purdy follows closely behind Gaitan with a trio of goals from the top of the circle and is within the top-10 in the conference in goals per game. Both players along with Dunn rank inside the top-10 of the Big Ten and top-50 in the NCAA in points per game.

Penn State’s 25 points scored in the game against Lock Haven tied the school’s all-time single-game points record originally set in 2018 against Michigan State.

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.