WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Westfield State field hockey team was named to the 2021 Division III National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) National Academic Team for the fall semester of the current academic year.

The NFHCA National Academic Team Award recognizes programs that earned a team grade-point average of 3.0 or higher during the fall semester.

Westfield State was one of 148 schools in Division III that qualified for the recognition. The Owls posted a team GPA of 3.28 for the semester. Massachusetts Institute of Technology posted the highest team GPA with a mark of 3.86 followed by Dean College with a team-average of 3.80.

The Owls placed sixteen players on the NFHCA Division III National Academic Squad earlier this month, led by four-year honorees Cheryl Latona (Graby, Conn.), Lindsey Spindel (Mendon, Mass.), and Riley Goulet (Marion, Mass.). Student-athletes that received the award earned a 3.3 GPA or higher during the fall semester.

Westfield State finished the regular season with an 8-4 record in conference play, which included a mid-season six-game winning streak, as the Owls earned the fifth seed in the Little East Conference tournament.