Academy of Notre Dame de Namur (Villanova, Pennsylvania) enters the 2026 season as the top High School field hockey team in the nation. The Irish were unstoppable last fall, clinching their fourth straight Inter-AC title and second PAISAA state title in three years.  Even with the graduation of First Team All-Americans Reese Milone (Princeton University) and Kiera Sack (Northwestern University), Notre Dame returns an incredibly potent roster headlined by senior First Team All-American Maeve McGinley (UNC commit) and junior Second Team All-American Camilla Lutte. The Irish will once again be hard to beat if first-year Head Coach Tina D’Anjolell can put all the pieces together as she returns to lead her alma mater.
 
Sitting closely at #2 is Emmaus High School (Emmaus, Pennsylvania). The Green Hornets come off a spectacular 27-1-0 season, capturing District XI and AAA State Championships.  Legendary head coach Susan Butz-Stavin continues to build on her historic NFHS coaching wins record as Emmaus chases its 38th consecutive District 11 title. While they will miss 6 key Division 1 grads, including Third Team All-American Morgann Orobono (Monmouth University), the Hornets return a deeply talented roster powered by seniors Madison Lenig (Third Team All-American, Temple commit) and Goalkeeper Emily Romano (Third Team All-American, Monmouth commit).  Emmaus has all the tools to compete for another AAA state title and the national top spot.
 
 
 Next Up: Preseason Regional Players to Watch, Tuesday, August 25th.

VIEW THE PRESEASON NATIONAL TOP 25 RANKINGS

SELECT A REGION TO VIEW THE PRESEASON REGIONAL TOP 20 RANKINGS

MORE ON MAX FIELD HOCKEY’S RANKINGS

MAX Field Hockey’s Preseason High School Rankings are based heavily on the previous Fall’s Final Rankings and team performances.  As much as possible, seniors graduated and key returning players are taken into consideration, but complete information is not always available for each program.  Historic dominance and success at the highest level and in the postseason are a major factor.  MAX Field Hockey’s general ranking philosophy: you must prove it on the field and beat the best and ranked teams to move onto and up the rankings!  As that happens, these rankings will change.

Please Note: Preseason and early scrimmage/playday results and feedback are very difficult to find and are generally not factored into these preseason rankings.  If you would like to pass along information we may have missed from early season play, please email us so we can take that into consideration for Week #1 rankings!

MAX Field Hockey always welcomes feedback on the High School Rankings.  Think we missed someone or that a team should be ranked higher or lower?  Email us: admin@maxfieldhockey.com

2026 TEAM RANKING RELEASE SCHEDULE

Preseason Rankings: Tuesday, August 18th
Week #1: Tuesday, September 15th
Week #2: Tuesday, September 29th
Week #3: Tuesday, October 13th
Week #4: Tuesday, October 27th
Final Rankings: Tuesday, November 24th

 

Postseason Awards to be released late January 2026 (Week of January 18th and Week of January 25th)
First & Second Team All-Region
National All-American Teams
State, Regional & National Players of the Year
State, Regional & National Coaches of the Year

*All-Region & Coach of the Year Nominations due by Tuesday, November 24th*

 

Award Nomination Process