Courtesy of Newberry College Athletics
NEWBERRY — In just 13 years the Newberry College field hockey has gone from not winning a game in its inaugural season in 2013, to finishing the 2025 season undefeated at 18-0 and earning the #1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Division 2 Field Hockey Tournament.
The Wolves, champions of the South Atlantic Conference, host Bentley out of Waltham, Massachusetts and a member of the Northeast 10 Conference Saturday at Setzler Field.
Newberry clinched the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by defeating #7 ranked Lander 3-0 in Sunday’s SAC championship game.
Junior midfielder Payton Keeler was named the MVP of the SAC Tournament after dishing out an assist in Friday’s 6-2 semifinal game victory over Wingate and played a key defensive role in the Wolves 3-0 shutout win over Lander in the championship game, the team’s 10th shutout of the season.
Joining her on the all-tournament team were Wibien Dahmen, Emma Hulsmeyer and Lieke Varenkamp.
The #8 seeded Falcons advanced to the finals of the NE10 postseason tournament with wins over Southern New Hampshire and Assumption before losing to defending national champion Saint Anselm in double overtime on Sunday.
The Wolves are making their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance while Bentley is making their 15th.
It was quite a day for Newberry head coach Hannah Dave as she led her team to the program’s first ever conference tournament title, first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament, the #1 seed and won her 100th career game.
Dave became the Wolves head coach in 2017 after Newberry had posted a combined record of 13-55 overall and 1-19 in league play and has led the program to seven consecutive winning seasons, back-to-back SAC regular season titles, the 2025 SAC Tournament title and a combined record of 37-8 over the last three seasons.
Saturday’s game will be played at Setzler Field at 1:00 p.m.