BOSTON – The UVM women's lacrosse team is projected to finish sixth according to this year's America East Preseason Coaches' Poll. The league announced the results on Thursday afternoon. The voting was conducted by the conference's eight head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own teams.
RELATED LINKS
America East: Release
Vermont: 2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule
The Catamounts earned a total of 20 points in the preseason rankings. Five-time defending champion Stony Brook was picked as the preseason favorite with 49 points and seven first-place votes. UAlbany trailed in second with 41 points and received the final first-place vote. Binghamton was selected third with 33 points and New Hampshire followed in a close fourth-place with 32 points. UMBC rounded out the top-five with 28 points.
Head coach
Sarah Dalton enters her third season at the helm. Dalton helped turn Vermont around in 2018 with the third-best win improvement rate in Division I. UVM's +5-win improvement from 2017 was tied with Boston College for the best among New England programs.
UVM returns its top two scorers from last season -
Elise Koehl and
Jenna Janes. The pair racked up 48 points apiece as Koehl guided the Cats with 42 goals and six assists. Janes netted 37 points and handed out 11 assists. The Green and Gold also have two All-Rookie selections coming back from a year ago –
MacKenzie Bolt and
Jessica English.
Vermont will open the 2019 season at Colgate on Saturday, Feb. 16. The opening draw is set for 12 p.m.
2019 AMERICA EAST PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
No., Team, Pts (1st Place Votes)
1. Stony Brook, 49 (7)
2. UAlbany, 41 (1)
3. Binghamton, 33
4. New Hampshire, 32
5. UMBC, 28
6. Vermont, 20
7. UMass Lowell, 14
8. Hartford, 7
