BOSTON -- Northeastern field hockey opens its 2026 season this weekend with a pair of tests against NCAA Tournament-caliber competition, traveling to Vermont on Friday before returning home to host No. 9 Syracuse on Sunday. Friday's match at Moulton Winder Field in Burlington, Vt. is set for a 3 p.m. start, while Sunday's home opener against the Orange at Dedham Field begins at noon. Friday's game will stream on AmericaEast.tv, and Sunday's game can be seen on FloCollege.
The Huskies enter the season picked fourth in the CAA preseason poll after reaching the conference semifinal for a fifth consecutive year in 2025, finishing 9-9 overall and 3-2 in league play as the No. 2 seed before falling 3-2 in the semi's to eventual champion Drexel.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
1. RUN IT BACK Northeastern returns two CAA Preseason Honorable Mention selections in Alex Mega and Jessica Garden, giving the Huskies a proven midfield core to build around. Mega, a senior captain, earned Preseason All-CAA honors in each of the last two seasons and followed up her 2025 preseason nod with an All-CAA Second Team selection, leading the Huskies with eight assists to go with three goals across 18 games (16 starts). The East Greenwich, R.I. native also set up the game-tying penalty-corner strike in the Huskies' CAA semifinal loss to Drexel, feeding classmate Camille Armaganian before Lilly Smith scored the tying goal moments later. Garden, a midfielder who arrived from Scotland's U21 program, was every bit as productive as a rookie, earning CAA All-Rookie Team and All-CAA Second Team honors after being named CAA Rookie of the Week on Oct. 20. With both now tabbed for preseason recognition again in 2026, Northeastern will lean on Mega and Garden to set the tone in the midfield from the opening whistle.
2. SCOUTING VERMONT The Catamounts enter Friday's opener as the America East's preseason favorite for the first time in program history, tying UAlbany atop the conference's 2026 preseason coaches' poll with 21 points and three first-place votes. Vermont is coming off a 2025 season in which it earned a share of its first regular-season title and hosted the America East Tournament for the first time. The Catamounts return three Preseason All-Conference honorees in Alicia Battistelli, Consu De Castro and Veerle Nijhuis, giving the Catamounts a decorated nucleus to defend that regular-season crown. The Huskies will look to spoil the Catamounts' bid for a program-best start right out of the gate.
3. SCOUTING SYRACUSE Sunday's home opener brings a ranked opponent to Dedham Field, as Syracuse checks in at No. 9 in this week's NFHCA Preseason Poll — the Orange's highest preseason ranking in three years. Syracuse was tabbed fifth in the ACC's preseason coaches' poll behind national heavyweights North Carolina, Virginia, Duke and Wake Forest, and returns sophomore forward Aubrey Turner after a breakout freshman campaign that earned her a spot on the Preseason All-ACC Team. Turner racked up 18 points on seven goals and four assists a season ago, including the series-clinching shootout goal that sent the Orange past Liberty and into the NCAA Quarterfinals for the second time under head coach Lynn Farquhar. Syracuse opens its season Friday at Fairfield before making the trip to Boston, giving Northeastern an early measuring-stick opportunity against a team that advanced to last year's NCAA Quarterfinals.
