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2020-21 Northeast Conference Field Hockey Preseason Coaches Poll                 1. Fairfield (unanimous)                 2. Rider                 3. Sacred Heart                 4. Bryant                 5. Wagner                 6. Merrimack                 7. LIU                 First place votes in parenthese

Somerset, NJ - Northeast Conference (NEC) field hockey made a statement upon its return in 2019 following a seven-year hiatus.
 
Fairfield put together what may have been the greatest season in the league’s field hockey history, and NEC coaches feel it may be more of the same in 2020-21, installing the Stags as the unanimous preseason favorite. 2019 runner-up Rider was tabbed second, followed by Sacred Heart and Bryant in third and fourth, respectively. Wagner, Merrimack and LIU rounded out the seven-team field in that order.
 
The list of superlatives Fairfield rang up last season is extensive. In a record-breaking year, the Stags pulled off an undefeated conference campaign as a prelude to capturing the 2019 NEC Championship crown with a 2-1 overtime win over an excellent Rider squad. The last of its program-best 18 wins over the course of the season was also a first for the program and conference as the Stags pulled off a 3-1 NCAA Tournament victory over #23 American. Fairfield, which lost in overtime to #2 UConn in the second round, finished with a 19-3 record and ranked 25th in the final NFHCA Coaches Poll.
 
The reigning champs are led by 26th-year head coach Jackie Kane, the 2019 NEC Coach of the Year. Between her extended tenure at the helm and four years as a Stag herself, Kane has contributed more than 200 victories to the program.
 
Most notable of Fairfield’s returnees is junior Luzi Persiehl (Hamburg, Germany/Gymnasium Hochrad). Persiehl coupled her NEC Field Hockey Player of the Year honor with NFHCA All-American second team accolades, the first such honoree in program history. She ranked first in the NEC in assists (11), fourth in points (23) and eighth in goals (six). Another key returnee this season is offensive powerhouse Danielle Profita (Washington, NJ/Warren Hills Regional), a senior forward who earned first team All-NEC honors and NFHCA All-Region accolades in 2019 after ranking third in the league with 25 points. On defense, Fairfield is anchored by senior defender Kelly Buckley (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), the reigning NEC Defensive Player of the Year, and senior goalkeeper Zoe Rosen (Point Pleasant Beach, NJ/Monroe Township), who played all but 21 minutes between the pipes last season. The All-NEC second teamer boasted a 1.18 GAA, which ranked her first in the NEC and measured up as 14th best in the country.
 
A six-match conference schedule will be contested in a single round-robin format over six weeks from March 18 to April 15. The 2020-21 NEC Field Hockey Championship match will pit the No. 2 seed at No. 1 seed the week of April 19-24.

About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 40th anniversary season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout seven states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Boston (#9), Baltimore (#26), Hartford/New Haven (#33) and Providence (#53). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 24 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 16 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU, Merrimack, Mount St. Mary’s, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, all @NECsports.