It’s conference tournament time.
And, at the cusp of the action, the National Field Hockey Coaches Association has published it’s week nine poll sponsored by Penn Monto. The poll has Northwestern holding steady at No. 1.
There were few changes this week. There is only one more week of the coaches poll remaining in the 2023 Fall season.
“The NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll is voted on by NFHCA member coaches and has no bearing on selection to the 2023 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship,” according to the NFHCA. “After two weeks of regular season competition, eligible teams must maintain a record of .500 or above to be eligible for ranking each week. The Ivy League Conference is an exception to this criteria the week of Sept 4 based on their different schedule. Beginning the week of Sept 11, all programs ranked in the top 20 must have a record of 0.500 or above.”
Here is the week nine list:
20. UMass-Amherst, 12-6, no change
19. Albany, 12-5, no change
18. UMass- Lowell, 14-3, no change
17. Cornell, 9-7, no change
16. Michigan, 9-7, no change
15. Saint Joseph’s, 14-4, previous No. 14
14. Penn State, 9-7, previous No. 15
13. Boston College, 11-6, no change
12. Syracuse, 10-6, previous No. 10
11. The Ohio State, 13-5, no change
10. Louisville, 13-5, previous No. 12
9. Harvard, 13-3, no change
8. Maryland, 14-4, previous No. 7
7. Iowa, 13-4, previous No. 8
6. Liberty, 16-1, no change
5. Rutgers, 15-2, previous No. 3
4. Virginia, 11-5, previous No. 5
3. Duke, 14-3, previous No. 2
2. North Carolina, 12-3, previous No. 4
1. Northwestern, 16-1, no change
Photo: North Carolina at St. Joe’s, Bob Benscoter
