Coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2001 and 2002, the Mary Washington College field hockey team had its sights set high as the 2003 season dawned, as the Eagles had lost just two players to graduation, and had a very talented senior class that included four all-region players. After a 16-4 season in which the Eagles, ranked nationally in the top ten throughout the year, advanced again to the CAA Tournament and achieved the second-best record in a storied school history, strengthened its grip as one of the top NCAA Division III programs in the nation.

The Eagles got off to their patented strong start, winning fourteen of their first fifteen games. After topping Washington College, 3-2, on the road in the opener, the Eagles made the home opener a memorable one, topping eventual NCAA Tournament-bound Johns Hopkins University, 7-1. After a tough 3-2 double overtime loss to Lebanon Valley College, the Eagles reeled off twelve straight wins.

The win streak began with decisive Capital Athletic Conference wins over Goucher College, 6-0, and at St. Mary's College of MD, 4-0. After an impressive three-goal win over nineteenth-ranked Franklin & Marshall College, the Eagles defeated Catholic University on the road, and then dropped Roanoke College, Washington & Lee University, Lynchburg College, Sweet Briar College, Elizabethtown College, and Bridgewater College in home contests.

A pair of road wins at Christopher Newport University and York College of PA extended the streak to twelve, and gave the Eagles a 14-2 record entering the Homecoming matchup with third-ranked Salisbury University. Only one second half goal separated the eventual national champions from the Eagles, who went on to top Randolph-Macon College in the regular season finale before downing St. Mary's College in the CAC semifinals.

The rematch at Salisbury in the CAC Championship proved to be a game for the ages, as the Eagles jumped out in front before falling, 3-2. Mary Washington certainly made its claim as one of the top teams in the nation with two very respectable results against Salisbury, who went on to win the NCAA Championship. The Eagles faced a very talented Skidmore College team in the NCAA regional semifinals, and fell on the turf at The College of New Jersey, 3-1, closing one of the most successful chapters in school history.