Penn State field hockey head coach Hannah Prince settled into her Happy Valley home on Thursday morning and logged into Zoom. She couldn’t take the meeting in her office, which overlooks Penn State’s Field Hockey complex, because No. 1 Northwestern was practicing into the late morning for its game the next day.

Prince’s squad will wrap up its season against the Wildcats, the nation’s top field hockey program and national champions in three of the last four seasons, Friday at 3 p.m.

“The team is really excited and has been really focused this week. I feel like we did not play our best against Iowa, and there’s no denying that,” Prince said. “So I think they’re hungry to show what they’re made of, and it’s also just an awesome opportunity to play the number one team right now.”

The Nittany Lions’ loss to the Hawkeyes on Sunday was their first in October. They entered the month at 4-4, with all four losses to ranked programs Maryland, Virginia, Princeton, and Monmouth.

Despite that record, Penn State was still ranked in the top 15 for RPI, a system that ranks college teams based on winning percentage and strength of schedule, in early October. The Nittany Lions’ upcoming games wouldn’t be any easier than the ones behind them, with matchups against five ranked opponents.

They won seven straight to start the month, including three upsets.

“I think all of September is what prepared us for that run in October,” Prince said. “We had a pretty strong strength of schedule, obviously, throughout the course of the season, and even though we suffered a few losses early on, they taught us a lot and gave us confidence and tools to learn from.”

Prince identified Lafayette as a tone-setting win, as Penn State took down a top-ranked RPI team.

Now, the Nittany Lions have to set the tone against the nation’s top-ranked team. A win would not only boost morale as the regular season concludes, but also serve as a bridge to the postseason.

A win over Northwestern would send a message to the rest of the Big Ten and possibly set the stage for a deep postseason run.

“We talked at the beginning of the week about no regrets, no excuses,” Prince said about the program’s mentality. “That was to set the tone for this week, but also for the rest of the season … I know it can feel like a lot, but you have a choice to have a mentality of not making excuses, and that you’re going to do everything in your power to prepare yourself, prepare our team, or else you’re going to have regrets.”

As it stands now, the Nittany Lions sit third in the Big Ten standings, with a 5-2 conference record and a one-game lead over three teams with 4-3 records — Iowa, Rutgers, and Indiana. However, with wins over Rutgers and Indiana earlier this month, Penn State holds the tie-breaker and cannot finish below them.

Iowa, meanwhile, holds the tie-breaker over Penn State and will travel to College Park for its season finale against Maryland. A win over the Terrapins would leapfrog Iowa into third, ahead of Penn State.

But Penn State is still the master of its own fate, and a win over Northwestern would eliminate any need to watch the scoreboard.

The focus is on the Wildcats because, either way, a top-18 program in the nation awaits Prince and her Nittany Lions in the Big Ten Tournament. Nonetheless, her confidence in the team has not diminished.

“Knowing that we have the talent, an incredible work rate, and the ability to play as a group is how we play our best,” Prince said. “The trust within each other has been growing steadily, and that piece is important as you progress throughout the season, because it could go the other way too … The group is full of fighters, and they’ve always shown that throughout the season. I have no doubt that they’ll give a good fight against Northwestern”

It may also help the Nittany Lions that Prince herself has plenty of postseason experience, leading a different squad to four straight conference championships and a national championship.

“I think about the NCAA [tournament] in my head, because that’s the goal, of course,” Prince said. “But I know we have to take care of business tomorrow and next week, and that has never changed for me.”

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