FAIRFIELD, Conn. – After earning a berth to the 2024 NCAA Championship, the Fairfield University field hockey team will look to build on last year's success with a challenging schedule in 2025.

Head Coach Laura Gebhart put together a highly-competitive schedule that includes three teams that were ranked in the final National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) poll as well as four teams that earned a berth to the NCAA Championship in 2024. Nine of the teams on this year's slate posted a record over .500 including four teams that won 12 games or more.

"I'm excited to kick off the 2025 season with a competitive non-conference slate that will push us and prepare us for the challenges of conference play," Coach Gebhart said. "Our team is eager to compete against both familiar rivals and new opponents as we pursue our bold goals for the fall season."

The Stags will open the season with a two-game road trip that begins at Lafayette College on August 20, a team that earned the Patriot League title and advanced to the national tournament. Syracuse University is next on the docket, coming off a 13-6 season that also sent the Orange to the NCAA tournament a year ago.

Fairfield will begin its home schedule on September 5 by hosting Villanova University, a Big East foe that posted a 10-7 record last season. Lehigh University closes out the initial home stand of 2025 when the team visits the Fairfield campus on September 7.

The Stags are away for the remainder of September following the Lehigh game, spending the next five games off campus. The road swing begins with back-to-back games against Ivy League opponents, starting with Columbia University on September 12 before finishing the weekend at Brown University on September 14.

The next three road games signal the start of the Northeast Conference (NEC) slate as the Stags will travel to Wagner College on September 19 followed by Merrimack College on September 26 and Stonehill College on September 28.

Coach Gebhart brings her squad back to its home pitch for two games to begin October, hosting Sacred Heart University for a conference match on October 3 before playing an intrastate contest against the University of New Haven on October 5.

Three more road games follow the brief home stand, sending Fairfield to Hofstra University on October 10 as well as to the University of Vermont on October 12 and Mercyhurst College on October 17. The Catamounts registered 11 wins last season and advanced to the NCAA Championship by capturing the America East title.

The Stags close out the 2025 regular season with four home dates, three of which are against NEC opponents. Rider University comes to Connecticut on October 19 as does LIU (October 24) and Saint Francis University (October 31). UConn, which placed fourth in the final NFHCA poll of 2024 and advanced to the NCAA Championship, is the only non-conference opponent during that season-ending home stand, heading south on October 26.