KUTZTOWN, Pa. – For the second week in-a-row, the Kutztown field hockey team was ranked fourth in the 2024 NCAA Atlantic Region rankings, announced on Wednesday.
 
The NCAA regional rankings are annually used to determine the teams that qualify for the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships.
 
Rankings are released every Wednesday afternoon until the announcement of the tournament field, which is set for 3 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 11. Each set of rankings includes all games played through the previous Sunday.
 
Shippensburg is ranked first, East Stroudsburg is second and West Chester third. Bloomsburg is ranked fifth, Newberry sixth and Mansfield is seventh.
 
New in 2024, eight teams will qualify for the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships. Per the NCAA Pre-Championships manual, five teams from the Atlantic Region and three teams from the East Region will be selected to the 2024 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships following the completion of the regular season and respective conference championships.
 
For the first time, conference champions (PSAC, NE-10, SAC) will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Upon selection, the eight qualifying teams will be re-seeded No. 1 through No. 8 without consideration for region.
 
Kutztown is in the Atlantic Region, which is comprised of all 10 field hockey teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and all nine teams in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) as well independent Maryville – a total of 20 teams.
 
The East Region is comprised of all 14 field hockey teams that compete in the Northeast-10 Conference as well as independents D'Youville and Roberts Wesleyan.
 
The first round of the NCAA Tournament will feature four quarterfinals hosted at school sites – those games will take place Saturday, Nov. 16.
 
Limestone University in South Carolina is the host of the NCAA Semifinals (2 and 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 22) and the NCAA Championship Game (1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 24).
 
Kutztown squares off with the Warriors in the PSAC semifinal round this Friday, Nov. 8, at 2:30 p.m., at Shippensburg University.