Just over one month after it was announced, the 17-game Penn State Nittany Lions field hockey schedule for the upcoming 2026 regular season has been slightly adjusted.
Their game against the Delaware Blue Hens on Sunday, September 6 was initially scheduled to be a road game. Now it is scheduled to be a home game, with a move to Char Morett-Curtiss Field at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex confirmed earlier this week.
The game is still scheduled to get underway at 12:00 p.m. ET.
🚨Location Change🚨
— Penn State Field Hockey (@PennStateFH) August 5, 2026
September 6’s game against Delaware has been moved to the Penn State Field Hockey Complex‼️ The game is still scheduled for 12 p.m.
🗞️: https://t.co/sgzQJ9IH7a pic.twitter.com/8ViAnnzEGk
The change gives Penn State 10 home games and seven road games on the 2026 regular season calendar.
It sets up the Nittany Lions to open up the season with six consecutive home games, with their first road trip not scheduled to take place until a visit to West Long Branch, New Jersey for a non-conference game against the Monmouth Hawks on Sunday, September 20. They haven't faced Monmouth since 2012.
That six-game stretch is set to include five consecutive non-conference contests against Virginia, Lock Haven, Villanova, Delaware, and Princeton. Penn State faced Virginia, Lock Haven, and Princeton on the road in 2025, while they faced Delaware at home. They have not hosted nor played against Villanova since 2019.
That stretch is also set to include their first Big Ten game of the year against the Maryland Terrapins on Thursday, September 17.
Additional home game an early win for Penn State
For a team that went 6-2 at home, including 4-0 in non-conference play, a year ago, it almost goes without saying that the late change is a welcome adjustment to the early-season schedule.
Penn State was the only team in the nine-team Big Ten to go undefeated at home in non-conference play in 2025, and that 4-0 stretch did not come easy.
It included a double-overtime win over Delaware and an overtime victory over Saint Joseph's, giving Penn State their first win over a team coming off of a National Championship Game appearance the previous season since 2021. Their 6-0 home start was also the best in the conference and the best for the program since 2016.
Aside from Monmouth, Penn State's other non-conference road opponents on the 2026 schedule include the Bucknell Bison on Monday, September 28, and the Kent State Golden Flashes on Sunday, October 11. Penn State beat both teams at home in 2025.
The 2025 team went just 1-7 in road contests, with the lone victory coming against a Lock Haven team that entered the game with an 0-14 overall record. Penn State has not won a Big Ten game on the road since October 2023.
Penn State's 2026 season, their first under new head coach Hannah Prince, is scheduled to get underway on Friday, August 28 with a non-conference home game against the ACC's Virginia Cavaliers. Live coverage of Penn State home games and Big Ten road games is set to be provided by B1G+, Big Ten Network's subscription streaming service.
Penn State does have one nationally televised game slated to be shown on BTN in mid-October against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
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