BOSTON – For the ninth-straight season, Stony Brook is the America East women’s lacrosse preseason favorite as the conference unveiled its 2021 preseason poll on Tuesday morning. The Seawolves, who are ranked sixth nationally heading into the season, were a unanimous selection.
Stony Brook, winner of seven-straight league titles, received all seven possible first-place votes and 49 points. UAlbany earned the other first-place tally and 43 points. The Great Danes have reached the #AEWLAX title game nine years in a row.
Here is the full poll:
2021 America East Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll
No. School Points (1st Place Votes)
1. Stony Brook 49 (7 - unanimous)
2. UAlbany 43 (1)
3. New Hampshire 34
4. UMBC 30
5. Vermont 26
6. Binghamton 21
7. UMass Lowell 14
8. Hartford 7
Preseason All-Americans Ally Kennedy and Taryn Ohlmiller from Stony Brook headline the league’s top returners. Also back is 2019 #AEWLAX Offensive Player of the Year Madison Conway from UAlbany.
The Seawolves will be the first team in action as they kick off their season Feb. 18 at Villanova. Conference play begins on March 6 as teams are scheduled to play a total of nine league games, including contests against each opponent once and two foes twice. Due to COVID-19 schedules are subject to change. Full 2021 #AEWLAX Schedule
The top four teams in the conference standings will qualify for the America East Women’s Lacrosse Championship, which will be held at tournament's No. 1 seed. The semifinals take place on May 6 and the championship tilt on May 8. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, where #AEWLAX teams have combined to win 12 games all time, including Stony Brook advancing to the quarterfinals in 2017 & 2018.
Fans will once again be able to watch the majority of #AEWLAX this season. Select games will air on The AE on ESPN while others will air on AmericaEast.TV. Those games will be available on computers, OTT devices and the brand new America East app, which is available on all IOS and Android devices and can be found by searching ‘America East Conference’ in app stores.
Follow the @AEDigitalNet Twitter account to stay up-to-date on America East women’s lacrosse news all season long and use #AEWLAX to join the conversation.
About America East: The America East provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.
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