Only two teams remain in the 2024 DII field hockey season. Kutztown and St. Anselm are set to battle for the state title. The Golden Bears are looking to repeat, while the Hawks are looking to make program history and claim their first title.
Here’s what you need to know.
🏑 Division-by-period updates, scores and brackets for the DII Field Hockey Championship
DII Field Hockey Championship: How to Watch
No. 4 national champion Kutztown and No. 7 seed St. Anselm square off at Saints Field in Gaffney, South Carolina on Sunday, November 24 at 1:00 p.m. You can stream the game live on NCAA.com.
Kutztown vs. St. Anselm: By numbers
| Team | Average score | Conservation savings | Help | Save by percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kutztown | 3.00 | 50 | 42 | 0.629 |
| Saint Anselm | 3.14 | 89 | 46 | 0.739 |
The DII field hockey season opened Sept. 5 with a dominant 4-0 win over Kutztown St. Anselm by the Golden Bears. The season ends with the two teams facing off again.
Looking at the scores in the early bracket, we’re two underdogs in the finals. Despite coming in at No. 4, the Golden Bears come in as the defending national champions, and are understandably the underdogs. Kutztown had a bumpy road back to the finals for a chance to repeat: The Golden Bears went on a three-game skid in October before losing in the semifinals of the PSAC tournament. However, Kutztown rallied to knock off No. 5 Southern New Hampshire and then upset No. 1 Shippensburg, which had lost twice this season, to advance to the finals.
Forward Erin Gonzalez, who had two goals in the Shippensburg game, is one to watch for the Golden Bears, leading the team with 31 points, fifth in the PSAC. Midfielder Juliana Donato — who had Friday’s game-winning goal — and defender Sarah Gatehouse each earned First Team All-PSAC honors with six goals and six assists. Mia Kepler has 19 clean starts and is 14-3 with a .632 save percentage. Kutztown has won both contests by one goal and has done so 11 times this year, going 8-3 by one-goal decision.
St. Anselm came in as the No. 7 seed, the first time the DII field hockey championships have been seeded seventh and eighth since the field expanded. The Hawks avenged their loss to Assumption in the NE10 title game a week ago, defeating the No. 2 Greyhounds 3-2 and upset No. 3 East Stroudsburg for their first championship game since 2019.
Amanda Lewandowski and Maddie Davis led the Hawks offense with 23 goals each. The dynamic scoring duo joined Grace Michael in earning first-team All-NE10 honors. Sydney Falterer has started every game in goal for the Hawks, who have gone 15-5 and had a stellar performance against East Stroudsburg, recording four shutouts.
DII Field Hockey Championship Predictions
Last year we saw DII field hockey history, with Kutztown winning its first state title. The sport has a strong history of repeat national champions, but it seems fate is calling for St. Anselm.
First of all, the PSAC has won 12 consecutive DII field hockey state championships. Sometimes you have to throw logic out the window and get a little unlucky to finish 13th in a row, and that makes St. Anselm’s fortunes even higher. Second, a simple look at the stats shows that St. Anselm is (again statistically) stronger, leading Kutztown in almost every category.
The Hawks were in the title game in 2019, but lack the experience that Kutztown brings to the table. However, the Hawks shut out DII’s seventh-best scoring team, and they should have plenty of momentum. Give me St. Anselm to take home the program’s first title.
Prediction: St. Anselm 3, Kutztown 1
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