5 factors that could decide if Penn State returns to the postseason

As the Penn State Nittany Lions field hockey team prepares to enter their first season under new head coach Hannah Prince, who arrives in State College after a successful four-year run at Saint Joseph's which included an appearance in the 2024 National Championship Game, they are aiming to get the program back to where it belongs.

Where it belongs, at the very least, is playing meaningful hockey beyond the end of the regular season in late October.

Their three-year NCAA Tournament absence is the longest in school history, as is their two-year drought without a Big Ten Tournament appearance, which followed a streak of 30 straight conference tournament appearances. Their four-year drought without at least one conference tournament victory is also the longest in program history.

Penn State finished 2-6 in the nine-team Big Ten in both 2024 and 2025, but because of the parity across the league in both years, two wins were not enough to boost them above eighth place and into the seven-team conference tournament bracket in either season.

Just one returning member from the 2025 roster has played in a postseason game (for just nine minutes), and that's something that everyone is hoping will change in November.

What needs to happen for a team that has shown an abundance of promise to get over the hump in 2026? Here are five key factors.

1. Faster starts

The 2025 season was the first season since 2015 in which Penn State did not record a single comeback victory. They have now lost 12 straight games in which they've trailed at any point, dating back to the 2024 season.

They were 7-2 when they scored first in 2025, and both losses were somewhat anomalous. The road loss to Syracuse was a heartbreaker, after Penn State did not trail until there were 23 seconds remaining in the game, and the home loss to Indiana snapped Penn State's 29-game winning streak in Big Ten home games they had led at any point, another streak that had dated back to 2015.

"It’s one of those things where, when you get a goal in a game like that, it's more of just, ‘okay, we’re one up, we’re not one down.’ We’re not having to come back," senior Natalie Freeman, who was recently named 2026 team captain, told Victory Bell Rings in a May interview. "We’re not having to tie the game. ... One by one, goal by goal, stacking goals, stacking things on top of each other is kind of what the mentality is."

In other words, the game's first goal is effectively a two-goal swing right off the bat. And when Penn State has been on the wrong side of that, things have generally gone downhill.

It sounds simple, but it's easier said than done. If it can indeed be changed in 2026, Penn State undoubtedly has the potential to flip the script from recent years, and in a big way.

2. Success in close games

Penn State won three games in overtime (two in double-overtime) in 2025, with two wins coming from goals by Olivia Marthins off the bench; no other Big Ten player had more overtime game winners, and Marthins was unsurprisingly the top scorer in the conference among those who did not start a single regular season game.

But they also gave up leads in the final minute of regulation on three occasions, including two instances that ultimately led to losses. More than one-third of their 40 total goals allowed during the season came in the fourth quarter.

It goes without saying that having three clutch, walk-off victories was a major positive. But how sustainable is it to rely on those kinds of heroics in close games, much less in a conference as competitive as the Big Ten?

The aforementioned blown lead against Indiana, which ended their Big Ten-best 6-0 home start to the 2025 season, was particularly consequential. Had that one not gotten away, they would have qualified for the Big Ten Tournament at 3-5.

3. Defensive consistency

There were times during the 2025 season when Penn State's defense looked like it could compete with anybody in the country.

They notably held conference rival Iowa, which boasted the nation's top offense and the nation's top scorer overall, scoreless in a 75-minute, double-overtime thriller late in the season, and that impressive performance came with the young core leading the way, as defensive captain Anouk Knuvers was forced to sit out with a knee injury.

"I think that game gave us so much confidence," junior Morgan Snyder, who played 73 minutes of that game at center back, told Victory Bell Rings in May. "Knowing that we can do that and we can come out on top with ranked teams ... does give us a little bit of confidence coming into next season. Hopefully we can channel that energy.

"It's good to learn from your mistakes, but it's also good to learn from your accomplishments too. And I think that's one game where we can definitely learn from our accomplishments and go from there."

At one point earlier in the season, Penn State registered nine consecutive shutout quarters, and that included three in a road game against then-No. 6 Syracuse.

Goalkeeper Aby Deverka had better combined numbers against eventual national champion Northwestern and Iowa, the team the Wildcats beat in the Big Ten Championship Game, than any other goalkeeper in the Big Ten.

Then there were other times like against Princeton and Rutgers to end the season, when the defense allowed nine goals within a stretch of only 45 minutes and 17 seconds. That stretch included three Rutgers goals in under three minutes, all in the first quarter of a must-win game. Separately, they also allowed three fourth-quarter goals to Syracuse, including two in the final 83 seconds.

Consistency is key here, and that's one element that should improve under Prince. Penn State allowed an average of 2.35 goals per game (2.23 per 60 minutes) during the 2025 season, second worst in the Big Ten. In four years under Prince, Saint Joseph's never allowed an average of more than 1.18, and their worst mark per 60 minutes was 1.13.

In addition to associate head coach Mark Wadsley, Prince also brought in goalie coach Janelle Ward, which should only serve to further benefit Deverka's development and accelerate her improvement.

4. Offensive balance

One thing that the 2025 team leaned into was their offensive depth following the graduation of All-American Phia Gladieux, the school's all-time leading scorer. There were 15 different Nittany Lions who scored at least one goal or an assist, the most since 2018, and 11 who scored at least one goal, the most since 2019. Eight of those student-athletes are set to return in 2026.

On paper, it's great that 15 members of the team were actively involved in the offense. It's great that they could hurt you in more than just a handful of ways. But their 2.0 goals per game average, inflated by an eight-goal game against a winless Lock Haven team, was also their worst since 2020, and they averaged just one goal per game in Big Ten play, their worst since 2009 and tied for their worst since joining the conference in 1992.

Penn State has now lost nine consecutive games when allowing more than zero goals. They have not won a Big Ten game in which they've allowed a goal since 2024, and their losing streak in non-overtime Big Ten games when allowing any goals whatsoever is 12.

Shutouts are nice, but the defense needs more consistent and reliable support from the offense, because over the past year and a half, the opponent scoring even a single goal has been the harbinger of a looming loss, specifically in conference play.

They figure to get that support in 2026, not only because of how many returning stars should see additional playing time, but because of another loaded freshman class and the addition of several transfers. In particular, junior forward Ella Gaitan arrives in Happy Valley from Maryland after leading the Terps in total goals (14) and points (32) scored across the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

5. Success away from home

Penn State got a very nice offseason boost when it was announced in early August that their early September non-conference game against the Delaware Blue Hens had been moved from Delaware to Penn State, giving the Nittany Lions a whopping six consecutive games at Char Morett-Curtiss Field to open up the 2026 season.

But despite having 10 home games and just seven road games on their regular season schedule, this change will certainly not alleviate the need to make major improvements on the road, where they endured massive struggles throughout the entire 2025 campaign.

Penn State went 1-8 in road games a year ago, with the only win coming in a late-season non-conference game against a Lock Haven team that entered the game with an 0-14 record. Among their three non-conference road losses in 2025 were two of the games in which they lost leads in the closing minute.

More importantly, they went 0-4 in Big Ten road games for the second consecutive season. They haven't won a Big Ten road game since October 2023, and their eight-game losing streak in such games has seen five shutouts to four different opponents. They scored just four total goals in the other three losses.

Sure, they can technically get into the Big Ten Tournament by going 4-0 at home. But counting on four wins against Northwestern, Ohio State, Michigan, and Maryland, whom they're 1-12 against since 2023? That's probably a tad bit optimistic.

Let's not forget that, based on the Big Ten's complicated tiebreaker parameters, even a 3-5 conference record would not have been good enough to make the 2025 postseason had they earned that third win in overtime against Rutgers to conclude the regular season. They ultimately lost 4-2 in regulation, unable to overcome a brutal first quarter.

It's going to take road game success to get Penn State over the hump; there's no way around that. Their Big Ten road opponents on the 2026 schedule include Rutgers, Michigan State, Indiana, and Iowa, and their non-conference road opponents include Monmouth, Bucknell, and Kent State.

The 2026 Penn State Nittany Lions field hockey season is scheduled to get underway with a home game against the ACC's Virginia Cavaliers on Friday, August 28, with live coverage set to be provided by B1G+, Big Ten Network's subscription streaming service, beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET. Penn State's home games and Big Ten games this season can be seen live on B1G+.

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