The Saint Joseph’s field hockey team has something even programs with the biggest NIL budgets can’t buy. 

It’s a “secret sauce” built on people and culture, and it has garnered national attention.

“The field hockey program embodies the blueprint for success on Hawk Hill,” Jill Bodensteiner, Saint Joseph’s Vice President and Director of Athletics said. “Our keys for success at St. Joe’s are people, culture, and resources — with resources as a distant third. The field hockey program shows you can rely on our people and culture to create and maintain a winning environment.”

That’s what the St. Joe’s field hockey program has shown over the last half-decade. You don’t have to have the biggest NIL budget; you don't have to be the largest school; you don’t have to play in a Power 4 conference. 

The culture, attitude and mentality make a winning program tick, and that is what head coach Hannah Prince has built on Hawk Hill.

“We use a mentality and a mindset that means we believe we can win every single time,” Prince said. “It’s not cockiness, it’s a humble, hungry attitude that lets us know we are capable of anything. That is what’s really special about this group.”

The Hawks have won five consecutive Atlantic 10 titles, four of them under Prince’s leadership, and made a trip to the national championship game in 2024 for the first time in program history.

They have beaten some of the best teams in the nation in recent years, with key wins against Duke, North Carolina, Penn State, Rutgers, Virginia, and UConn. 

“Let’s play every game like we’re a big team too,” junior captain Milou Kluyt said. “We know we can compete with teams from the Big Ten and the ACC, all those teams. That mindset really made a difference in how confident we were in ourselves. The belief that we have and are able to beat those big teams is a big thing.”

The program’s half-decade stretch of success is due in part to accountability and discipline, whether that be from players, coaches or support staff.

Attention to detail is an integral part of how Prince’s players succeed on the field and in the classroom. From being on time and keeping a clean locker, to taking notes in video sessions and paying attention in practice, these are lessons that Prince knows will help her team on the field, and in the future. 

“It sounds small to the people who don’t understand the discipline it takes to be part of a team and play a sport,” Prince said. “They are pieces that unite us and help us translate our attention to detail onto the field, because the details on the field are even more crucial in pressure situations.”

While 2025 ended on a high note with another A-10 title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, there was plenty of pressure along the way. 

Last season, the Hawks had multiple seven-game winning streaks, but this year, their longest regular-season winning streak was just two. In 2024, the Hawks never lost more than one game in a row; this year, they had a four-game losing skid late in the season. 

However, there was never a day when Prince and her coaches thought the pressure would get to their players. This is where she preached “trusting the process” to her players, a phrase woven into the team’s culture when facing adversity.

“As coaches and athletes, you have to embrace the ‘trust-the-process mentality,’” Prince said. “It sounds cliché, but it’s so important because who you are and who you can be at the beginning of the preseason is different from who you are heading into the postseason, especially if you are dedicated to your work and trust the process.”

Only two of their 10 losses were by more than a goal, so there wasn’t pressure to change tactics or lineups because of the mindset the team came to the facility with every day. When you live by the belief that you can win every single game — and the results have shown that over the last four seasons — panic doesn’t set in.

Prince knew the talent she had when she returned to Hawk Hill in 2022, with the program setting a lofty goal to compete nationally. A three-time A-10 champion as a student-athlete with UMass, Prince helped the Hawks clinch their first NCAA Tournament berth as an assistant in 2017 and 2018.

Between stints on Hawk Hill, Prince adopted a winning mentality while learning from many successful coaches.

“They made me really recognize that what they’re all doing as head coaches is exactly what I always wanted to do,” Prince said. “Seeing people who were doing it successfully, doing it the right way, doing it with pride and integrity, recruiting in creative ways, establishing a culture, that was my goal as a head coach.”

“Hannah gives you the confidence you need to perform to the best of your ability, and to become the player you want to be,” Kluyt said. “She really wants you to focus on your strengths, but also to make your weaknesses better and to grow on those.”

A well-respected head coach comes with a well-rounded coaching staff. Prince and her assistants, Mark Wadsley, Maggie Dickman, and Beth Riley, won the 2024 NFHCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year award.

While Prince’s staff is young, they all boast extensive collegiate and professional playing and coaching experience, which gives the Hawks an advantage. 

“It’s beneficial to have a younger coach,” senior Emily Tammaro said. “I found it very easy to talk to Hannah, along with Maggie and Mark. They’re a very young staff, so I feel like we are able to be more relatable, which has been really nice.”

“I understand the grind physically,” Prince said. “I do remember it like it was yesterday, my recruiting process, my playing time, I try to keep that perspective at all times. I don’t want them to feel like I know exactly what it’s like to walk a day in their shoes, but I also want them to know that I understand what they endure throughout the season.”

Prince’s pedigree as a “players’ coach” hasn’t just led to success on the field, but has attracted players from across the world.

Kluyt joined the program as a freshman in 2023 from Goirle, Netherlands. She was looking for a small school that wanted to challenge bigger teams and compete nationally. Kluyt talked with numerous coaches and players before making her decision.

“The atmosphere and the vibe I felt when I talked with them was really good,” Kluyt said. “Everything combined, from the academics to the athletics, made it the best choice for me.”

The Hawks had 10 international players on their roster this season, hailing from Australia, Canada, England, France, New Zealand, Scotland, and the Netherlands. 

Tammaro spent her first three college seasons at Old Dominion. While playing in her home state of Virginia, she won the 2023 Big East championship with ODU. Despite entering the portal later than most last year, St. Joe’s was exactly what she was looking for. 

“It felt like home,” Tammaro said. “It was just one of those things that I knew as soon as I talked to Hannah. She mentioned her core values and the team culture, and that stuck with me because that was the reason I wanted to transfer.”

The Hawks' team-first mentality stuck with Kluyt and Tammaro during their recruitment and is used by the team throughout all facets of the season. With the ever-changing landscape of college athletics, especially with players entering the transfer portal, teams rarely have the luxury of relying on one or two star players. That is why Prince and her team embrace the opposite.

Since 2022, nine or more Hawks have earned A-10 postseason honors each season. During that span, the Hawks have had six or more players reach double-digit points every year, including three straight seasons with seven players in double figures. 

While the program has had its fair share of big-name players, like 2022 and 2024 A-10 Offensive Player of the Year Lily Santi, two-time First Team All-America selection and 2024 Mid-Atlantic Region Player of the Year Manu Ghigliotti, and Kluyt, the 2025 A-10 Defensive Player of the Year, it's never been about the individual on Hawk Hill.

“One of our core values is team first, so putting the team above yourself,” Kluyt said. “These accolades are amazing, and awards are always nice to receive, but it’s all about the team; you don't receive these honors without them. We really bonded as a team this year and really connected in the end, something I’m really proud of.”

It is clear that the team-first culture and winning mentality are a recipe for success for the Hawks, and they’re being recognized nationally for the impact they have had on the program and university. 

The goal of winning a national championship remains the same, and performance shows the Hawks are headed in the right direction.

“I don’t try to live in the past, but I also want to acknowledge the success we’ve had and be extremely proud of it,” Prince said. “I love the support we have. People are starting to know St. Joe’s for field hockey. I love the mark we’ve made, and I look forward to doing everything in my power to continue the trend we are on, and ultimately reach our goal of being national champs.”