NFHCA Preseason Poll

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Following a run to the NCAA Elite Eight last season, the Christopher Newport field hockey team will enter the 2025 campaign with high expectations as the Captains were ranked sixth in the NFHCA National Preseason Coaches Poll, which was announced by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association on Tuesday morning.

CNU earned 365 points in the poll to earn the No. 6 position. That equaled the program's highest rank in a preseason poll since the 2014 squad kicked off the year slotted fourth nationally.

Overall, the Captains were recognized in the NFHCA Preseason Coaches Poll for the 18th consecutive year. Last fall, Christopher Newport began the 2024 campaign ranked seventh nationally before advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season.

At the top of the rankings, reigning champion Middlebury held down the No. 1 spot, while Tufts, Salisbury, Williams, and Johns Hopkins rounded out the top-five. After claiming their seventh straight national championship last year, the Panthers earned 16 first-place votes in the preseason poll. Salisbury picked up the other three.

Testing themselves against the best teams in the nation, the Captains have three match-ups against top-five squads this season. On Sunday, the program will square off with No. 5 Johns Hopkins at Mary Washington's Battleground Turf Field in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Later in the year, CNU will face No. 3 Salisbury and No. 4 Williams in back-to-back bouts on October 8 and October 12, respectively.

Three other opponents on Christopher Newport's schedule also earned a spot in the NFHCA's preseason poll. The team will face No. 9 Messiah on September 20, No. 10 York (Pa.) on October 4, and No. 14 Rowan on October 25.

CNU is coming off of a 2024 season in which the squad produced a 16-3 record while advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time since 2013. Four of the team's wins came against nationally-ranked competition, while only one of the squad's losses came during regulation.

Welcoming back an impressive collection of veteran talent, Christopher Newport returns 10 players who earned starts last year and five All-Conference performers. Kendall Gibson, Caroline Hughlett, Courtney Hughlett, Lily Kerr, and Avery Mast were all recognized by the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference for their work in 2024.

Along with their league accolades, Courtney Hughlett was celebrated as a third-team All-American by the NFHCA, while Kerr earned the same honor from Synapse Sports. Hughlett eventually ranked seventh in the NCAA with 13 assists, while Kerr slotted third nationally with a 0.61 goals-against-average and .863 save percentage. As a team, CNU led the country in goals-against-average (0.61), save percentage (.880), and shutouts-per-game (0.63).

The Captains will open the fall on Friday when they host Bridgewater at 6 p.m.

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