COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Slippery Rock University field hockey team was ranked No. 9 in the NCAA Division II national rankings when the National Field Hockey Coaches Association released its updated national poll Tuesday.
 
This week's poll marks the first entry into the national rankings for Slippery Rock since the 2017 season when it spent a week (Oct. 2-9) ranked fifth in Division II by the NFHCA.
 
Slippery Rock earned its spot in the national poll behind a 3-0 start to the season. To date, SRU has registered victories over Frostburg State (6-2), Coker (4-0) and Lander (3-1). Lander was ranked ninth in the country at the time of its game against The Rock, serving as SRU's first win over a ranked team since 2017.
 
One of eight undefeated teams remaining in Division II, Slippery Rock's impressive start to 2026 has led to SRU statistically ranking fifth in the country in scoring margin (+3.33), fifth in scoring average (4.33) and ninth goals against average (1.00).
 
Individually, Lucy Hutchinson is second in Division II in both points per game (4.00) and goals per game (1.67). Goalkeeper Sam Black is sixth in GAA (0.39) and Coral Piramo is 11th in goals per game (1.00).
 
The rest of this week's NFHCA poll saw Shippensburg and Kutztown maintain their respective No. 1 and No. 2 positions for a third consecutive week followed by East Stroudsburg, Newberry, West Chester, Bloomsburg, Saint Anselm, Indiana (Pa.), The Rock and Millersville.
 
Slippery Rock, which has won its first three games in a season for the first time since 2018, wraps up a four-game homestand 4 p.m. Friday against Converse at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. A victory over the Valkyries would give SRU its first 4-0 start to a season since 1978.
 
A look at the updated NFHCA national poll can be found below.
 

NFHCA DII NATIONAL RANKINGS
Rank	Team	W-L	Points
1	Shippensburg	3-0	78 (6)
2	Kutztown	5-0	74 (2)
3	East Stroudsburg	5-0	59
4	Newberry	3-1	54
5	West Chester	3-0	52
6	Bloomsburg	4-0	43
7	Saint Anselm	2-2	24
8	IUP	4-0	19
9	THE ROCK	3-0	16
10	Millersville	3-1	7

To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official Athletic Communication accounts on 'X' (formerly Twitter, @Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics) and Instagram (RockAthletics).