GAME DAY: Penn State FH vs. Bucknell

The Bisons

Bucknell is headed into the Monday night showdown after dropping its fourth straight game, this time to Boston, 7-2.

The Bisons’ offensive effort is led by a pair of eight-point scorers in Julia Corropolese and Bella Notaro while eight other Bucknell players have recorded a point this season. Corropolese has a team-high four goals and Notaro has the same number of assists for the team-lead. Sarah Althouse has received every start in cage for Bucknell this season. The netminder has allowed 2.77 goals on a per game basis and saved 46 goals throughout 2026, good for a 69.7% rate. The Bison program is helmed by Kelsey Usefara alongside assistant coaches Ali McEvoy and Ashton Odiorne.

Penn State owns an unblemished 42-0 record over Bucknell in the all-time series with the first meeting taking place in 1973.

Everybody Love Penn State Field Hockey

After six games at home, Penn State is still the nation’s leader in 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. In the third weekend, against a nationally ranked Princeton team, Penn State fans once again showed out with 642 attendees at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex.

The Penn State Field Hockey Complex has hosted 2,996 fans through the first half of games this season, the best mark in the nation, with an average of 499 per game, the second-best nationally for teams who have played more than one game at home. When looking solely at the Big Ten, Penn State is approximately 50% higher than Maryland for the next closest accumulative attendance and has a 50% higher average attendance than the Terrapins.

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

The Nittany Lions fell to then-No. 5 Maryland, 4-1, and then-No. 19 Monmouth, 2-1, during the fourth weekend of competition.

Ella Gaitan, the Terrapin-transfer, scored the lone Penn State goal against her former team with the game all-tied up heading into the fourth. In the break between the third and fourth stanza, a torrential storm hit the Penn State Field Hockey Complex causing the playing surface to pool up and the ball to not move as fluidly as usual. On the new playing surface, the Nittany Lions conceded a trio of goals late, two on an empty net, to fall in the team’s Big Ten opener.

Down 2-0 late into the third against Monmouth, Penn State tried valiantly to mount a comeback. Olivia Marthins scored her third goal of the season by way of rebounding a Sienna Dunn shot on goal. Dunn had the opportunity to tie things up and fully swing momentum in favor of the Nittany Lions, but her penalty stroke was miraculously saved and Penn State couldn’t force the issue any further.

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.