Northwestern stays at No. 1 Division I college field hockey team for the third week in a row in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll sponsored by Penn Monto.
The Wildcats beat Rutgers at the Scarlet Knights this past weekend. It’s the only loss for Rutgers so far this season.
While the Scarlet Knights lost in shootouts, coaches who participate in the NFHCA poll voted their rank third this week, a step up from last week’s poll.
Syracuse saw the biggest jump after defeating Louisville 4-1 on the road.
“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 are the ranked teams in week 8:
20. UMass-Amherst, 11-6, previous rank No. 19
19. Albany, 11-5, previous rank No. 20
18. UMass-Lowell, 12-3, no change
17. Cornell, 12-3, no change
16. Michigan, 8-7, previous rank No. 15
15. Penn State, 8-7, previous rank No. 16
14. St. Joe’s, 13-4, no change
13. Boston College, 11-5, previous rank No. 12
12. Louisville, 12-5, previous rank No. 8
11. The Ohio State, 13-5, previous rank No. 10
10. Syracuse, 10-5, previous rank No. 13
9. Harvard, 12-3, previous rank No. 11
8. Iowa, 12-4, previous rank No. 5
7. Maryland, 14-3, previous rank No. 9
6. Liberty, 15-1, no change
5. Virginia, 10-5, previous rank No. 7
4. North Carolina, 11-3, previous rank No. 2
3. Rutgers, 15-1, previous rank No. 4
2. Duke, 14-2, previous rank No. 3
1. Northwestern, 15-1, no change
Photo: Iowa at Penn State, Bob Benscoter
