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SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The No. 2-ranked Shippensburg University field hockey team will host No. 5 IUP at noon Friday in the first of two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship Semifinal matchups at Robb Sports Complex.
 
By virtue of earning the PSAC's No. 1 seed at the completion of the regular season, Shippensburg University is serving as the host of the 2026 PSAC Field Hockey Championship Semifinals and the 2026 PSAC Field Hockey Championship Game.
 
The second semifinal Friday will take place at 2:30 p.m. and feature No. 1 Kutztown (the PSAC's No. 2 seed) and No. 4 East Stroudsburg (the PSAC's No. 3 seed). The 2026 PSAC Championship game is set for noon Sunday.
 
Shippensburg is in the PSAC Tournament for the 25th consecutive season and for the 35th time in school history. It is the 33rd time in the 47-year history of the conference tournament that the Raiders have reached the PSAC Semifinals.
 
Overall, SU is 23-30 all-time in the PSAC Tournament, including 16-16 in the PSAC Semifinals.
 
The Raiders have won four PSAC Championships in school history (2005, 2021, 2024, 2025) and enter this year's tournament as the two-time defending league champions.
 
Shippensburg (14-2) vs. IUP (13-5)
 
It will be the third meeting of the season between the Raiders and the Crimson Hawks. SU will be facing IUP for the second straight game – the Raiders concluded the regular season last Friday with a 2-0 victory at Indiana.
 
One of the most exciting games of the season was the first meeting between the two teams – a 2-1 double-overtime victory for Shippensburg in which junior forward Elaina Fragassi delivered one of her PSAC-leading seven game-winning goals just 32 seconds before the match would have headed to a 1-v-1 shootout.
 
One ironic aspect of the season series is that each team has started a different goaltender in the two games. On Oct. 14 at Shippensburg, Crimson Hawk goalkeeper Celeste Pagliaroli was out with an injury and Kaelin Koehler stepped up in a big way – making 13 saves. Pagliaroli started Friday's game at IUP.
 
Meanwhile, freshman Liv Schweighart made three saves in the first matchup but has missed the last five games due to injury. Senior Grace Meinke enters the tournament as the reigning PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Week after making an SU-career-high eight saves in Friday's shutout of the Crimson Hawks.
 
Friday's semifinal marks the first time that Shippensburg and IUP will be facing each other in the PSAC Tournament since 2007, when the Crimson Hawks posted a 1-0 semifinal victory at Miller Stadium in Indiana. IUP went on to win its only PSAC Championship in school history that season, defeating Bloomsburg 4-3 in overtime in the championship game.
 
Shippensburg has conceded only 10 goals all season – the second-fewest in the nation behind Newberry (6). (The Wolves are 15-1; Newberry's only loss was a 2-0 setback at SU on Sept. 12).
 
The Raiders enter the PSAC Tournament having held their opponents scoreless for the last 274:20, having posted four consecutive shutouts. Shippensburg is on an eight-game winning streak in which it has not scored more than three goals in any of the victories. SU has out-scored the opposition 18-5 during that span.
 
Of Shippensburg's 16 matches this season, only two have been decided by greater than a two-goal margin. Nine matches have been decided by one goal; SU is 7-2 in such games – including 2-0 in overtime.
 
IUP enters the semifinals having earned a 2-1 victory over No. 6 Bloomsburg on Tuesday. The Crimson Hawks are in the PSAC Field Hockey Final Four for the first time in 14 years (they lost to eventual league champion West Chester in the 2012 semifinals, 2-1) and are seeking their first PSAC Championship game appearance since 2008.
 
PSAC Tournament history between the teams: Friday's semifinal will be just the fifth meeting between the two teams in the PSAC Tournament; each squad has won twice. SU won 4-0 in the semifinals of the inaugural 1979 tournament at Kutztown and 3-2 in overtime in the semifinals of the 2006 tournament hosted by Bloomsburg. In addition to its 2007 victory, IUP also defeated the Raiders 4-2 in the semifinals of the 2004 tournament hosted by Bloomsburg.

Overall series history between the teams: Friday will be the 70th all-time matchup between the two teams, with the Raiders holding a 53-15-1 series advantage. Shippensburg has won 19 of the last 20 meetings over IUP, with the lone exception being a 1-0 overtime loss in the final game of the 2024 regular season.