HOBOKEN, N.J. (June 16, 2016) – The defending Empire 8 Conference champion Stevens Institute of Technology field hockey team announced its 18-game 2016 schedule Thursday on stevensducks.com. 

The Ducks are coming off a historic season in which they became the first three seed to capture the E8 title. Stevens continued its postseason run with a win over Mount Holyoke College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, before eventually falling to Ursinus College in round two. 

Stevens enters its new campaign under first-year head coach Meredith Spencer-Blaetz.

The Ducks open their season against The College of New Jersey on the road on September 1, before hosting Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham on September 7 in the home opener at 7 p.m. The Ducks will be looking to make it two straight over the Devils after a 2-1 victory last fall.

Stevens plays three of the next four in Hoboken with home dates against Houghton College, The College at Brockport, and Ithaca College, with a road date against Montclair State University sandwiched in on September 14.

Despite dropping the regular-season matchup with Ithaca last season, Stevens exacted its revenge later on with a 4-1 win in the E8 championship game. 

A small two-game road trip at Cabrini College and Utica College comes next starting on September 21, before back-to-back home contests with Drew University and Nazareth College. The Ducks went 4-0 against those four last fall, winning by a combined score of 16-3. 

Four on the road follows in a slate that includes two conference opponents in St. John Fisher College and Elmira College, and two non-conference in SUNY-New Paltz and Rowan University. 

A home matchup with Rowan University comes next on October 15, before Stevens plays its final regular season contest in Hoboken on October 22 against Hartwick College. 

The Ducks play their final two on the road from there starting on October 26 against Stockton University, and ending with the season finale on October 29 at E8 foe Washington and Jefferson College. 

Of the Ducks 10 non-conference opponents, seven had winning records in 2015 including three NCAA Tournament participants. 

Stevens returns four of its top-five starters from last season, including all-conference performers in senior Nolie Prouty and junior Victoria Alvarez. Also back in the fold will be senior goalie Emily Stukenborg who enters the fall as the program's all-time leader in saves. 

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