Undefeated Newberry Earns No. 1 Seed in NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The NCAA Division II Field Hockey Committee announced the eight-team field for the 2025 NCAA Championship, with South Atlantic Conference champion Newberry College earning the No. 1 overall seed and the right to host a first-round matchup this weekend.

The Wolves (18-0) will host No. 8 seed Bentley (13-8) of the Northeast-10 Conference on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m. at Setzler Field. The winner will advance to the NCAA semifinals on Friday, Nov. 21, in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.

Newberry's appearance marks the first NCAA Tournament berth in program history, capping a remarkable rise for the Wolves. Just 13 years after their inaugural winless season in 2013, Newberry completed a perfect 18-0 campaign to capture both the SAC regular season and tournament titles.

The Wolves clinched the SAC's automatic bid with a 3-0 win over No. 7 Lander in Sunday's conference championship match. Junior Payton Keeler was named SAC Tournament MVP, scoring her 19th goal and recording her 20th assist of the season in the title game. She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Wibien Dahmen, Emma Hulsmeyer, and Lieke Varenkamp.

Saturday's game will also mark a career milestone for head coach Hannah Dave, who recently recorded her 100th career win. Since taking over the program in 2017, Dave has turned Newberry into a national contender—leading the Wolves to seven straight winning seasons, back-to-back SAC regular season titles, the 2025 SAC Tournament Championship, and a 37-8 record over the last three years.

This year's NCAA Division II Championship field includes automatic qualifiers Newberry (SAC), Saint Anselm (NE10), and Shippensburg (PSAC), along with five at-large selections: Assumption, Bentley, East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, and West Chester.

2025 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship Schedule

First Round – Saturday, Nov. 15

• 1 p.m. – No. 1 Newberry vs. No. 8 Bentley

• 1 p.m. – No. 3 Shippensburg vs. No. 6 Saint Anselm

• 1 p.m. – No. 4 East Stroudsburg vs. No. 5 West Chester

• 6 p.m. – No. 2 Kutztown vs. No. 7 Assumption

Semifinals – Friday, Nov. 21
Championship – Sunday, Nov. 23 (12:30 p.m.)
All semifinal and championship games will be held at Steph Pettit Stadium on the campus of Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.

The complete 2025 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship bracket is available at NCAA.com.