BOSTON – After winning its first-ever America East field hockey title in 2021, Maine is the 2022 preseason favorite atop the league's preseason coaches’ poll.
The coaches’ poll, which was announced Thursday, was voted on by the league's head coaches, who could not vote for their own team.
The Black Bears, which captured both the regular-season and tournament titles last season, earned six first-place votes and 60 points to top the poll. UAlbany finished second totaling 55 points and a pair of first-place tallies. Maine outlasted UAlbany in an epic conference title game a year ago, winning 2-1 in a penalty shootout. Stanford earned the final first-place nod and 49 points to come in third.
Check out the full poll:
What to Watch For
- America East Goalkeeper of the Year Mia Borley leads a strong group of returnees for Maine. Also back for the Black Bears are first-team All-Conference selections Poppy Lambert, who tied for the league lead with 17 goals, and Chloe Walton.
- Rookie of the Year Alison Smisdom led the conference in scoring during conference play last year (10G, 21 pts) and earned first-team honors for the Great Danes.
- Bryant begins its first season in America East joining from the Northeast Conference.
- Austin Pile takes over as head coach at UC Davis after several years as an assistant coach at Cal.
The season begins on Friday, Aug. 26 with five teams in action and four more on Saturday, Aug. 27. The 36-game conference slate with each team playing every other once begins on Friday, Sept. 16 and concludes on Sunday, Oct. 30. Full schedule
The 2022 #AEFH championship will consist of the league’s top six teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season and will be hosted by the top-seeded program that resides on the east coast Nov. 3-6.
Fans will once again be able to watch nearly every #AEFH contest 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 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 @AEGameday Twitter account to stay up-to-date on America East field hockey news all season long and use #AEFH to join the conversation.
America East field hockey has a storied history of succes with 27 #AEFH student-athletes having been named All-Americans over the past eight seasons, dating back to when UAlbany great Paula Heuser was named National Player of the Year. The conference has totaled 15 NCAA tournament wins all time with three squads reaching the Final Four, including UAlbany in 2014.
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.
– Building the Complete Student-Athlete –