COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Slippery Rock University field hockey team remained ninth in the latest NCAA Division II national rankings when the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) released its updated national poll Tuesday.
 
SRU entered the national rankings for the first time since 2017 a week ago as the No. 9 team in Division II and maintained the lofty national ranking by way of a 2-1 non-conference victory Sept. 18 over Converse University at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The victory against Converse improved The Rock's record to 4-0 in 2026, marking the first time since 1978 that SRU has opened a season with four consecutive wins.
 
The 2026 season serves as the first time that Slippery Rock has been ranked in the NFHCA top 10 poll in consecutive weeks since 2012 when The Rock spent six straight weeks in the national rankings before finishing the year ranked ninth in the year-end poll.  
 
One of six undefeated teams remaining in Division II, Slippery Rock's impressive start to 2026 has led to SRU statistically ranking seventh in the country in scoring margin (+2.75) as well as ninth in both scoring average (3.75) and goals against average (1.00).
 
The rest of this week's NFHCA poll saw Kutztown overtake Shippensburg for first in the country on the heels of the Golden Bears' win over the defending national champion Raiders.
 
Shippensburg dropped to second after losing to KU followed by East Stroudsburg in third, Newberry and West Chester tied for fourth with Bloomsburg, IUP, Saint Anselm, The Rock and Millersville rounding out the poll.  
 
Slippery Rock begins a five-game road trip 5 p.m. Tuesday at Roberts Wesleyan University. A victory over the Redhawks would give SRU its first 5-0 start to a season since 1976.

A look at the updated NFHCA national poll can be found below.
 

NFHCA DII NATIONAL RANKINGS
Rank	Team	W-L	Points
1	Kutztown	7-0	80 (8)
2	Shippensburg	3-1	71
3	East Stroudsburg	6-0	65
t4	Newberry	4-1	50
t4	West Chester	4-0	50
6	Bloomsburg	6-0	43
7	IUP	5-0	30
8	Saint Anselm	3-2	25
9	THE ROCK	4-0	17
10	Millersville	3-3	4

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).