BOSTON – Defending conference champion UAlbany was selected first in the 2026 #AEWLAX Preseason Poll as the Great Danes seek their third title in the last four years. The America East also released its Preseason All-Conference selections on Wednesday afternoon.
The Great Danes received five first place votes for 35 points, while Bryant claimed the remaining two. The Bulldogs had 30 total points after claiming a share of their first-ever regular season title and earned the No. 1 Seed in the conference tournament. UMass Lowell, which also was named a 2025 co-regular season champion, was selected third with 27 points. Vermont (18), UMBC (16), Binghamton (15) and New Hampshire (6) rounded out the rest of the poll.
Bryant had a league-best four Preseason All-Conference selections, highlighted by reigning Defender of the Year Kaelynn O’Brien, while UMBC was second three honorees. UAlbany, UMass Lowell and Vermont each had a pair selections.
The award winners were determined in a vote by the league's head coaches who were not permitted to vote for their own players. The preseason poll was determined in a vote by the league’s head coaches who were not permitted for their own school.
2026 #AEWLAX Preseason Poll
| Pl. |
School |
Pts. (1st) |
| 1. |
UAlbany |
35 (5) |
| 2. |
Bryant |
30 (2) |
| 3. |
UMass Lowell |
27 |
| 4. |
Vermont |
18 |
| 5. |
UMBC |
16 |
| 6. |
Binghamton |
15 |
| 7. |
New Hampshire |
6 |
2026 #AEWLAX All-Conference
| A |
Emma Blloshmi (Binghamton) |
| A |
Emily DeGeorge (Bryant) |
| A |
Lydia Doraz (Vermont) |
| A |
Emily Knapp (UMBC) |
| M |
Tess Curtis (UMBC) |
| M |
Audra Hansen (UMass Lowell) |
| M |
Riley O’Mara (Bryant) |
| D |
Sabine Godwin (Vermont) |
| D |
Ella Killian (UMBC) |
| D |
Delilah Mile (UAlbany) |
| D |
Kaelynn O'Brien (Bryant) |
| D |
Jessica Tosone (Bryant) |
| DC |
Paisley Cook (UAlbany) |
| GK |
Alexa Kuhn (UMass Lowell) |
Need to Know:
- UAlbany took home the 2025 #AEWLAX as the No. 3 Seed, beating No. 2 UMass Lowell 18-10 in the semifinals and then No. 1 Bryant 14-10 in the championship. The Great Danes outscored Bryant 7-3 in the second half to pull away for the win.
- Last season UAlbany went 9-10 overall and 4-2 in conference play. The Great Danes started the season 1-6 but concluded the season winning 5 of 6.
- Bryant earned a share of its first regular season title and the No. 1 Seed after going 5-1 in conference play. The Bulldogs’ four preseason all-conference selections were named all-conference last year, highlighted by Defender of the Year Kaelynn O’Brien who had a league-best 52 caused turnovers.
- UMass Lowell secured a share of its first-ever regular season title with a 5-1 conference mark last year. The River Hawks were a program-record 11-6 and return Goalkeeper of the Year Alexa Kuhn and five of their top six scorers from last year.
- UMBC went 11-5 in conference play and 3-3 in league play last year to earn the No. 4 Seed.
- Vermont went 2-4 in conference play last year, losing by a single goal to UAlbany and UMass Lowell, while falling to Bryant by two goals.
- Binghamton's Emma Blloshmi ranked 8th nationally last year with 3.93 goals per game and had 59 total to lead the league.
The 2026 #AEWLAX Season begins on Friday, Feb. 6 as New Hampshire travels to face Boston University. A day later Bryant welcomes Sacred Heart while UMass Lowell hosts Manhattan and Vermont travels to Charlotte. On Feb. 8, Binghamton welcomes Marist.
Fans will once again be able to watch nearly every #AEMLAX 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.
ABOUT AMERICA EAST
Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference and its social media channels, @AmericaEast.
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