The Penn State Nittany Lions Field Hockey team saw their season come to an end just shy of the Big Ten tournament for the second year in a row, with a 2-6 conference record not enough to crack the top seven in the nine-team league following their 4-2 loss in Halloween night's regular season finale against Rutgers.
But just as they were a year ago, when they missed out on postseason play for the first time as a member of the Big Ten, they were truly oh-so-close once again, and there were several instances of outcomes throughout the season – four to be exact – which, had they gone the Nittany Lions’ way, would have produced a much different result.
After two consecutive years of watching their season come to an end just short of an entry into the Big Ten bracket, can they get over that hump in 2026?
What's next for Penn State?
Six seniors have played their final games at Penn State, and the presence of each and every one of them will surely be missed in 2026.
Team captain Sophia Mannino wrapped up her fifth year in State College after battling another mid-season injury and was once again a key component of both a balanced offensive attack and an efficient defense. She was named to the 2025 All-Big Ten Field Hockey second team to cap off her career.
Though she also dealt with an injury late in the season, fellow captain Anouk Knuvers returned after missing the entire 2024 season. She scored her first career goal in an early upset win over Saint Joseph's and was tied for fourth in the Big Ten in defensive saves. Madison Tambroni started a few games late in the season in Knuvers' absence to wrap up her own career.
Ella Jennes entered the year with two career goals and seven career points, and she found the back of the cage seven times in 2025, tied for most on the team. Her hat trick against Lock Haven was the first for a Nittany Lion not named Sophia Gladieux since Mackenzie Allessie in 2022, and she scored two game-winners, including one in double-overtime to beat Delaware.
Aubrey Semler also had a career year, recording three goals and the first two assists of her career in her first year as a primary starter. She began her fifth season with two career goals.
And although Morgan McMenamin didn't start a game, she provided a steady presence off the bench all year long and was one of the team's go-to options for penalty corner inserts. Additionally, her goal against Syracuse was one of the most improbable goals you could possibly see at the collegiate level.
But this is a team that knows how not to "rebuild", but how to reload; we saw it in 2025, as they tapped into their depth following Gladieux's graduation. They scored 34 goals, down only two from 36 in 2024, and took 129 shots on goal compared to 125 a year ago, all while allowing fewer shots on goal from their opponents.
If only a few things that went against them in 2025 go their way in 2026, there is no reason to believe they can't end their postseason drought and reach their first Big Ten tournament since 2023. They certainly have the pieces in place to make a run.
Natalie Freeman
Natalie Freeman emerged as Penn State's most potent offensive threat as a junior in 2025, finishing the season tied for 11th in the Big Ten in both goals (seven) and points (19) after entering the season with three career goals and seven career points.
Her shooting percentage was higher than that of six of the 10 Big Ten scorers she finished behind, and her shots on goal percentage was higher than that of seven of those 10.
Freeman is projected to be the lone starting senior in next year's lineup and should have a chance to further solidify herself as one of the outright best players in the Big Ten.
Aby Deverka
Though there were a couple games – but really just a couple quarters – she'd probably like to have back, the sophomore goalkeeper was indisputably one of the most improved goalkeepers in the Big Ten in 2025.
Aby Deverka dropped her goals against average by nearly one full goal per game, recorded 70 saves, and logged the first three shutouts of her career, including a 75-minute double-overtime shutout against an Iowa team that entered the game leading the Big Ten with an average of nearly four goals per game.
She's a member of the U-21 Junior U.S. Women's National Team for a reason, and stretches like her run of nine consecutive scoreless quarters in late September make it easy to see why there is optimism that she will continue to get even better.
Joji Purdy
Joji Purdy was the number one scorer in the Big Ten among those who hadn't started a game until she finally made her first start in Penn State's penultimate game of the season against Lock Haven, when she scored again. As a freshman, she excelled whenever she was on the field.
She nearly scored a hat trick in her first career home game, and her two-goal performance in that game was enough to earn her Penn State Student-Athlete of the Week honors – alongside projected NFL running back Kaytron Allen.
Her six goals and 13 points were the most for any Penn State freshman since Gladieux recorded 12 goals and 26 points in the 2020 season, and it's hard to imagine she won't be an everyday starter as a sophomore.
Morgan Snyder
Morgan Snyder started all 17 games as a sophomore after leading the team in minutes as a freshman in 2024. While she continued to improve defensively, she also emerged as an offensive threat, finishing fifth on the team in shots after not taking any a year ago.
Only four backs in the Big Ten scored more points and recorded more assists than Snyder did in 2025, and only two of those four recorded at least one defensive save, something Snyder did for the second year in a row.
Her role in the Iowa shutout, which saw her play 73 of 75 minutes and hold Dionne van Aalsum, the nation's leading scorer, to just one shot on goal in eight attempts, cannot be overlooked, especially in the absence of Knuvers.
Cooper Cutchins
If Penn State had ended up beating Indiana (and, when it was all said and done, getting into the Big Ten tournament), the incredible defensive save Cooper Cutchins made in that game probably ends up becoming a graphic on a team t-shirt.
Cutchins led the team in minutes as a freshman and finished tied for fourth in the Big Ten in defensive saves with two, and she added an impressive goal in the win against Bucknell.
The aforementioned Iowa shutout also would not have been possible without her contribution on defense. Perhaps she too could find herself more incorporated into the offensive gameplan in year number two.
Olivia Marthins
Once Joji Purdy started the game against Lock Haven, freshman Olivia Marthins became the joint-leading scorer in the Big Ten among players not to start a game.
Of her four goals, three were game-winners. That put her behind only the likes of Iowa's Dionne van Aalsum and Northwestern's Ashley Sessa, the two leading scorers in the conference, and Northwestern teammates Ilse Tromp and Grace Schulze.
None of those four are freshmen, and none of those four scored two walk-off winners in overtime like Marthins did. Marthins, the only player in the Big Ten with two such goals, did so on both occasions against teams ranked inside the top 11 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll.
Others to watch
On a team that amassed 15 different point scorers and 11 different goal scorers, the program's most since 2018 and 2019, respectively, there are plenty of others worth mentioning here as well.
Freshmen Brooke Weaver and Lara Pyle both started the majority of the season and had one assist each. Sophomore Madison Britton started all but one game and also tallied an assist, in addition to solidifying herself as a quality contributor on defense.
Sophomore Katelyn Strawser was second on the team with three assists, with the most notable one coming in overtime to Marthins to upset Saint Joseph's early in the year. Fellow sophomore Carly Seal had a goal somewhat controversially wiped away in the Delaware win but was another consistent force off the bench.
In 2024, Penn State missed the Big Ten tournament because of a tiebreaker. In 2025, they missed out by a hair once again. Considering how close they really were and how many individuals emerged as key contributors in a year some predicted would be a "down" year, this is a team perfectly positioned to take that next step in 2026.