LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's lacrosse team was picked sixth in the Centennial Conference preseason poll released Wednesday morning. The Bears received 37 points in a sampling of the conference's ten head coaches.
Defending Centennial Conference champion Franklin & Marshall, which captured its first league title since 2011 and advanced all the way to the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament a year ago, was forecasted to defend its crown. The Diplomats earned seven first-place votes and a total of 79 points, narrowly edging Gettysburg, which garnered the other three first-place votes and finished with 75 points. The Bullets and Diplomats have faced off in the Centennial Conference championship game for the last 13 years.
The league's perennial powers were succeeded in the poll by Washington College (59 points) in third, with Dickinson and Haverford tying for fourth with 52 points. Next came the Bears (37), followed closely by Muhlenberg (36) and McDaniel (34). Swarthmore (27) and Bryn Mawr (9) rounded out the predicted standings.
The Bears return everyone but Kitty Dawson, a first-team All-Centennial Conference midfielder in 2015, from a squad that finished 4-13 overall and 2-7 in league play a season ago. With 11 players who started at least ten games last year back in the fold, Ursinus figures to be one of the more experienced squads in the conference as it chases its first playoff appearance in five years.
The Bears' defense will be anchored by a pair of all-conference selections in senior goalkeeper Margaret Philbin (First Team) and junior defender Lisa Grous (Second Team). Philbin led the Centennial Conference in save percentage (.543) a year ago, while Grous finished fourth in the conference in ground balls (40) and 10th in draw controls (team-high 46), also adding 14 caused turnovers to place second on the team.
Junior midfielder Amy Kohout is the leading returning scorer after a 21-goal, eight-assist campaign.
Ursinus opens the 2016 season at Cabrini on Wednesday, February 24.
2016 Centennial Conference Preseason Poll
|
Team |
2015 Record |
Points |
|
1-Franklin & Marshall |
20-3 (8-1 CC) |
79 (7 first place votes) |
|
2-Gettysburg |
16-4 (8-1) |
75 (3) |
|
3-Washington College |
11-5 (7-2) |
59 |
|
T4-Dickinson |
8-7 (4-5) |
52 |
|
T4-Haverford |
11-8 (5-4) |
52 |
|
6-Ursinus |
4-13 (2-7) |
37 |
|
7-Muhlenberg |
9-7 (5-4) |
36 |
|
8-McDaniel |
10-8 (4-5) |
34 |
|
9-Swarthmore |
7-9 (2-7) |
27 |
|
10-Bryn Mawr |
4-13 (0-9) |
9 |