KUTZTOWN, Pa. – It has been a run unlike any other in program history for Kutztown Field Hockey the last 2-3 years. KU won its first ever NCAA Division II championship in 2023 and came within seconds of winning back-to-back national titles last season. The 2025 group looks to keep the momentum and success going as they reload for another strong run.
 
The Golden Bears finished last season with a 16-6 overall record and 6-3 mark in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. They took down Southern New Hampshire in a dramatic 2-1 double overtime win at Andre Reed Stadium in an NCAA Quarterfinal matchup and then knocked out No. 1 and PSAC champion, Shippensburg 4-3 in the semifinal round in Gaffney, S.C.
 
After 60 minutes of scoreless action in the championship game, No. 8 Saint Anselm found the back of the cage 6:33 into the first overtime period to stun the Maroon and Gold and win the title.
 
Aside from the run of two consecutive national title games, Kutztown also finished atop the PSAC following the regular season in 2022 and earned the top spot in PSACs, hosting the final four that year. Heading into this season, Kutztown was voted first in the PSAC preseason poll.
 
Head coach Marci Scheuing, entering her 12th season in charge, has her program in a great place and is poised to make another deep run in the postseason with the squad she has in 2025.
 
"Coming off of a second straight appearance in the National Championship game, we are once again very excited about our team for this upcoming season," said Scheuing. "We lost an incredibly talented class after last year's run, but we return seven starters and added impressive talent with our recruiting class and our transfers. We do believe we are set for another exciting year.  We don't like to call it rebuilding, we like to refer to it as reloading because of all of the pieces we have in place."
 
The Golden Bears will be led by multi-year All-PSAC performers in senior forward Erin Gonzalez (East Earl, Pa./Garden Spot) and senior midfielder Grace Harrold (York, Pa./Central York). Gonzalez is also an NFHCA Second Team All-American. Other returning starters include junior midfielder Jessica Traynor (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen), sophomore midfielder Marissa Rice (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) and sophomore defender Marlee Fetrow (Birdsboro, Pa./Daniel Boone). Sophomore goalie Lorelai Lehenky (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) started two games last season and graduate student midfielder Olivia Vaccari (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) was in the starting lineup the first three games before getting injured and missing the rest of the campaign.
 
Kutztown also added three sophomore transfers from the Division I level, along with 11 freshmen.
 
"This is probably the deepest team that we have ever had," Scheuing said. "We are very young, but extremely talented. We are most excited to see this group gel together and to see where this season will take us. They have already worked hard at creating an incredible chemistry and I believe that will help our team succeed."
 
Kutztown's 2025 regular season begins on Thursday, Sept. 4, at 2 p.m., in a non-conference matchup against Southern New Hampshire from Andre Reed Stadium. KU's last home game last season was a 2-1 victory in double overtime against the Penman in the NCAA Quarterfinal round.