The Raiders field hockey team is ranked #1 in the first edition of the 2021 NCAA Atlantic Region rankings released Wednesday. The NCAA uses regional rankings to determine the teams that qualify for the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships.
Rankings come out every Wednesday afternoon until the announcement of the tournament field, set for 3 p.m. on Monday, November 8. Each set of rankings includes all games played through the previous Sunday.
Three teams from each of the two regions (Atlantic, East) will advance to the 2021 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships following the completion of the regular season and respective conference championships. Conference champions (PSAC, NE-10, SAC) do not receive automatic berths into the NCAA Tournament.
Upon selection, the six qualifying teams will be re-seeded No. 1 through No. 6 without consideration for region.
Shippensburg is in the Atlantic Region. All field hockey teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) as well as Frostburg State and Lindenwood make up that region.
READ: SU field hockey: Raiders remain unbeaten, earn PSAC berth
2021 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships Facts:
- The announcement of the tournament field takes place for Monday, November 8, at 3 p.m. via webcast on ncaa.com.
- Teams are ranked, based on the NCAA pre-championship manual, using this criteris: Division II in-region winning percentage; Division II winning percentage, Division II strength of schedule (opponents’ average winning percentage and opponents’ opponents’ average winning percentage); Division II head-to-head competition and results versus Division II common opponents. Additional criteria specific to field hockey includes: late-season performance (last seven games of season), Performance Indicator (PI) and Rating Percentage Index (RPI).
- The NCAA Quarterfinals (No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed; No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed) on Saturday, Nov. 13. The higher seed will host each quarterfinal pending it meets the requirements defined by the NCAA.
- The NCAA Semifinals take place at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Friday, November 19 at the Biemesderfer on the campus of Millersville University.
- The NCAA Division II Championship game takes place at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 21 at the Biemesderfer on the campus of Millersville University.
