5 key positives (and 2 concerns) from Penn State's hot streak

After playing four games in 10 days to open up the 2026 season, the Penn State Nittany Lions field hockey team is set to have this Friday off before getting back into action against the No. 4 Princeton Tigers at on Sunday afternoon for the fifth of six consecutive home games.

Penn State opened up the year with an overtime loss against the No. 5 Virginia Cavaliers, after battling back from an early three-goal deficit to force the extra period, and has since gone on a three-game winning streak during which they've outscored their opponents 12-1.

Factoring in the comeback against Virginia, 15 of the 16 most recent goals scored in regulation of Penn State's games have been scored by the Nittany Lions.

While they're obviously not going to win a national championship or end their Big Ten postseason drought with non-conference play in late August or early September, it has been a positive start to the Hannah Prince era to say the very least.

Let's have a look at the five biggest positives (along with two concerns that still exist) as Penn State rides their three-game winning streak into Sunday's game against the national runners-up from a season ago.

5 positives from Penn State's hot start

The new coaching staff

Even after three straight wins, I think the biggest testament to the strength of the new coaching staff, led by former Saint Joseph's head coach Hannah Prince, is ironically the loss to Virginia.

The energy Penn State brought in the fourth quarter of that game was unlike anything they brought all of last season, which ended up being their first season since 2015 without a comeback win. Sure, it didn't end in a victory, but it was a statement nonetheless against a national contender and one of the perennial powerhouses of the ACC.

Prince and the rest of the staff have that game to point to when it comes to reinforcing the belief that not only is it truly never over until it's over, but this team can compete with anybody in the country.

Aby Deverka

Perhaps nobody on the team has had a red-hot start to the season quite like that of junior goalkeeper Aby Deverka, who was just named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for her outstanding performance over the weekend against Villanova and Delaware.

According to PSU Athletics, not since Phia Gladieux was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week in September 2024 has a Nittany Lion won a Big Ten weekly award, and Deverka is the first Nittany Lion since Anouk Knuvers to win the Defensive Player of the Week honor since 2023.

Even with the aforementioned three goals allowed in the first three quarters against Virginia, Deverka's save percentage of 79.2%, which is nearly 16% higher than her season-long mark from a year ago, is second in the Big Ten. Her 19 saves are tied for the most in the conference, with the highlight being a diving late-game save against Virginia on a penalty corner.

Since Virginia took that 3-0 lead, Deverka has faced 19 shots on goal and given up only two goals. She faced 14 of those shots this past weekend and gave up only one. She is living up to her potential as one of the nation's elite goalkeepers, and she absolutely has what it takes to keep that up.

The rest of the defense

As good as Deverka has been, so has the rest of Penn State's defense. They are allowing an average of just one goal per game (in regulation) and 1.22 goals per 60 minutes, down from 2.23 a year ago.

Junior Morgan Snyder is a consistently reliable force who can be regularly counted on to play all 60 minutes, and her role in Deverka's aforementioned save on the Virginia penalty corner is one of her own highlights so far this year.

Sophomore Cooper Cutchins' scrappiness and aggression, specifically on the penalty corner defensive unit, has been fun to watch, and freshman Lilly Holmes has also started every game and even gotten involved in the offense, having already taken eight shots.

The defense logged 11 consecutive shutout quarters of regulation play until Delaware scored a second-half goal in Sunday's game, which ended up being a 2-1 Penn State win. Defense was historically a strength of Saint Joseph's teams under Prince, and things have certainly gotten off to a good start in State College.

The offensive newcomers

Penn State is loaded with talented newcomers yet again, led by junior Maryland transfer Ella Gaitan, whose two goals against Delaware lifted the Nittany Lions to the victory in what was her first multi-goal game since 2024.

Gaitan was Maryland's top scorer across her freshman and sophomore years, and she has answered the call early and often in blue and white, resulting in Penn State Student-Athlete of the Week honors this week.

Graduate student Sienna Dunn, a native of the Isle of Man, has created numerous scoring opportunities for her teammates and is one of the Big Ten's co-leaders in assists with five. No Penn State player has had more than six assists over an entire season since 2022. Dunn is also 1-for-1 on penalty strokes.

Ohio State transfer Cam Standish has three assists of her own and has been a key piece of the offensive penalty corner unit, serving as one of the go-to options for corner inserts, and freshman Chloe D'Hage has also gotten in on the action with two goals and two assists, with five of her six total shots on target.

It took just two games in 2026 for 11 Nittany Lions to log a goal and/or an assist, just one year after their 15 in that category was the highest for any Penn State team since 2018. Just three of those 11 started a game in 2025.

After a 2025 season that saw Penn State's offense fall to historic lows, this is exactly what the Nittany Lions needed to start 2026. And prior to 2026, they had not opened up the year with four consecutive multi-goal games since 2021.

Joji Purdy

While she didn't start Sunday's game against Delaware, sophomore Joji Purdy has already started more games (three) than she did all of her freshman year (two), and she's already approaching nearly half of her minutes total from a year ago.

Purdy was Penn State's most efficient offensive scorer from 2025, measured by goals per 60 minutes (0.72), and finished third on the team in goals with six. It was somewhat baffling that she did not start a game until a late October nonconference game against a winless Lock Haven team. Unsurprisingly, she had been the leading scorer in the Big Ten without a start before taking the field in that match.

She has already scored three goals this season, along with her first career assist, and with her shots on goal percentage up from 55.8% to 66.7%, tops on the team among those who've taken more than six shots, she has proven that she belongs in the starting lineup.

2 lingering concerns

Slow starts

Of Penn State's 15 goals this season, just two have come in the first half. Fortunately, the defense has held up to the point where Penn State has only had to battle from behind once so far this year against Virginia, and they did a commendable job to turn what could have been a blowout into a competitive overtime game.

At the end of the day, 15 goals is 15 goals, and you can't talk about their slow starts without also talking about the fact that they are averaging 3.25 goals per second half.

On one hand, you pick your battles. But on the other, despite the Virginia comeback, this is still a team that hasn't won a game they've trailed since 2024 (13 straight losses). You would ideally hope that they don't have to consistently rely on late-game success to notch crucial Big Ten wins later in the year.

Green cards

You love to see the aggression out of this team under their first-year head coach, especially early in the season, and quite frankly, there are some cases when it feels like green cards are being handed out like candy and the alleged infractions should actually be praised rather than penalized.

But subjectivity aside, this is something they will need to clean up, especially in Big Ten play when even one small infraction could not only be the difference between a win and a loss but a Big Ten Tournament berth and a third consecutive postseason miss.

Seven Penn State players have already been assessed at least one green or yellow card this year, most in the Big Ten, and they lead the Big Ten with seven total green cards.

Penn State's game against Princeton this Sunday, September 13 is set to be shown live on B1G+, Big Ten Network's subscription streaming service, beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET.

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