Tickets: Cash only at the gate if not bought ahead of time. Can be purchased in advance on the Tournament Central page linked above and also HERE.
 
The Shippensburg University field hockey team (T-2 in NFHCA poll, No. 3 seed) will face Kutztown (No. 1 in NFHCA poll, No. 2 seed) in an NCAA Division II Semifinal at 2 p.m. Friday at Bloomsburg's Steph Pettit Stadium.
 
Shippensburg, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Champion and No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, defeated No. 6 seed Saint Anselm in its Saturday quarterfinal, 3-0.
 
Kutztown, the PSAC regular season champion and No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, defeated No. 7 seed Assumption in its Saturday quarterfinal, 2-0.
 
A key word to describe Friday's game is "third."
 
It is the third matchup of the season between the two teams; Kutztown won the regular-season finale on its home turf, 2-0, while Shippensburg won the PSAC Championship Game at Kutztown, 2-1.
 
It is also the third straight season that the two teams are meeting in the national semifinals. Kutztown won both meetings – 4-3 last season at Limestone, and 2-1 in 2023 at Saint Anselm. Those games are the only two times that KU and SU have faced each other in the NCAA Tournament.
 
The winner of Friday's semifinal will face either No. 1 seed Newberry or No. 5 seed West Chester in the NCAA Division II Championship Game at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.  

SHIP in the NCAA Tournament:
* Shippensburg is in the NCAA Tournament for the 18th time in school history (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025).
* Shippensburg is 19-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and has won five NCAA Division II national titles (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021).
* Shippensburg is 7-7 all-time in the NCAA Semifinals. The Raiders are in the NCAA Semifinals for the fifth straight season. It has lost its last two semifinals appearances to Kutztown after having won six-in-a-row in the semis (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022).
* Shippensburg has won six total national championships – the team's first national championship in school history came in 1979, when the Raiders claimed the AIAW Division III national championship to complete a 16-2-3 season that included a school-record 14 shutouts.
 
About Shippensburg:
* Shippensburg (18-3) is tied with Newberry at No. 2 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll.
* Head Coach Rayell Wallace, in her first season at Shippensburg after five years (four seasons) at Slippery Rock, has directed a Raider squad that has played a nationally-ranked opponent in 15 of the team's 21 games this season (71 percent) and posted a 12-3 record in those contests.
* Since the start of the 2024 season, Shippensburg is 23-4 against nationally-ranked opponents. Its only loss to a nationally-ranked opponent last season was the national semifinal setback to Kutztown.
* Playing at a neutral site takes the Raiders away from Robb Sports Complex. Shippensburg has won 33 straight home games dating back to Oct. 11, 2022 (a 4-1 home loss to #4 Kutztown). Overall, since the start of the 2021 season (post-pandemic), the Raiders are 48-1 at home (10-0 in 2021, 8-1 in 2022, 9-0 in 2023, 12-0 in 2024, 9-0 in 2025).
 
About Kutztown:
* Kutztown (20-1) is No. 1 in the NFHCA Division II poll.
* The Golden Bears, in the NCAA Semifinals for the third consecutive season, lost in the 2024 national championship game to Saint Anselm (1-0 in overtime) after winning the 2023 national championship game over East Stroudsburg (2-1).
* Head Coach Marci Scheuing has created and maintained a program that is a perennial national championship contender. KU has won a school-record 20 games this season; Scheuing's squads are 55-10 since the start of the 2023 season.
* KU posted a clean sweep of this year's PSAC major awards, with Erin Gonzalez (17 goals, 7 assists) the Athlete of the Year, Olivia Kirkpatrick (7 goals, 5 assists, one d-save) the Defensive Athlete of the Year, Tess Adolf (40 saves, .816 save percentage) the Freshman of the Year, and Scheuing the Coach of the Year.
 
Series History:
* Shippensburg is 42-23 all-time against Kutztown dating back 49 years (first meeting was in 1976).
* This will be the fourth neutral-site game between the two teams; SU won a PSAC Semifinal at East Stroudsburg in 2023 (1-0 in overtime) while each of the last two Golden Bear victories in the national semifinals occurred at neutral sites.
* This is the ninth time that the two teams will be facing since the start of the 2023 season (SU leads 5-3; wins were 2023 regular season, 2023 PSAC Semifinals, 2024 regular season (twice) and 2025 PSAC Championship Game; losses were 2023 NCAA semifinals, 2024 NCAA semifinals and 2025 regular season)
* This will be the fifth postseason matchup between the two teams in the last three seasons when including the PSAC Tournament (twice in 2023, twice now in 2025).