LANCASTER, Pa.- The Franklin & Marshall field hockey team has confirmed its 2026 schedule, as the Diplomats look to improve on a 15-4, 8-2 Centennial Conference (CC) campaign in 2025 where the team reached the Centennial Conference Tournament semifinal for the fourth-straight season. 

F&M has a 17-game regular-season slate including seven non-conference contests and ten games against Centennial Conference opponents. The team will play at Tylus Field eight times in the regular season, while they will play on the road nine times. 

The non-conference schedule includes six opponents from last season plus the addition of Shenandoah, marking the first game in the series. 2026 begins with a trip to Susquehanna on Tuesday, September 1, marking the fifth-straight season that kicks off against the River Hawks. The Diplomats followed that game by hosting Elizabethtown on Saturday, September 5, and Messiah, on Wednesday, September 9. F&M travels to Montclair State on Saturday, September 12 and Alvernia on Wednesday, September 16. The next game sees F&M host Shenandoah in the inaugural meeting of the sides, while the non-conference schedule concludes with an away day at SUNY Cortland on Saturday, October 3. F&M was a perfect 6-0 against the non-conference sides returning to the schedule, including a 3-2 win over then #9 Messiah in the second game of 2025. 

F&M's ten-game Centennial Conference slate opens with a trip to Haverford on Saturday, September 26, as the Diplomats look to make amends for one of two regular season losses in the conference. The next game is a home matchup against McDaniel on Wednesday, September 30, followed by trips to Gettysburg (Wednesday, October 7) and Johns Hopkins (Friday, October 9). F&M scored six goals apiece in their wins over McDaniel and Gettysburg, while the Blue Jays, the defending conference champions and national runners up, claimed a 2-1 win in Lancaster in 2025. 

F&M's next week of play includes home contests against Muhlenberg (Wednesday, October 14) and Washington College (Saturday, October 17). F&M earned a 4-2 win over the Mules before claiming a double-overtime victory against the Shorewomen last season. The following week features away trips to Ursinus (Wednesday, October 21) and Dickinson (Saturday, October 24). F&M earned 3-0 win over Ursinus, while Dickinson avenged F&M's 4-0 regular season win by handing the Diplomats a 1-0 loss in the Centennial Conference Tournament Semifinal. The regular season concludes at home games against Bryn Mawr on Wednesday, October 28, and Swarthmore on Saturday, October 31. The Diplomats won both matchups in 2025.
 
The six-team Centennial Conference Tournament begins with the first round on Tuesday, November 3, while the semifinal and championship games are slated for Thursday, November 5 and November 7, respectively. The top-two seeded teams earn a bye from the opening round. 

The 24-team NCAA Tournament opens with first round action on Tuesday, November 10 ahead of the second round on Saturday, November 14 and quarterfinals on Sunday, November 15. Championship weekend, featuring the semifinal round and national championship game, will be hosted at William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y. between Friday, November 20 and Sunday, November 22. 

A full 2026 preview will be released closer to the beginning of the season.