Women’s Lacrosse Picked Second in 2019 NEC Preseason Poll
Somerset, NJ – After claiming the 2018 Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship, its second league title in three years, the Wagner women's lacrosse team, led by first-year head coach Michelle Tumolo, has been picked second in the conference's annual preseason coaches poll, the league office announced today. A year ago, history was made at Wagner when the Seahawks earned a 13-9 win over Mercer in the preliminary round of the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship, marking the first NCAA win in program history. The Green & White, who dropped a second-round game a Towson, finished with an overall record of 14-6, with this win total setting a single-season program record for wins. The league's coaches picked Bryant, who Wagner has met in the NEC Championship game in each of the last five seasons, as the 2019 preseason No. 1. Both Bryant and No. 2 Wagner received four first-place votes. Following Wagner, Mount St. Mary's and Robert Morris occupy the third and fourth spots, respectively. Saint Francis U was picked fifth, Sacred Heart followed in sixth, LIU Brooklyn in seventh, and Central Connecticut in eighth to round out the poll. 2019 Northeast Conference Women's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches Poll 1. Bryant (4) 2. Wagner (4) 3. Mount St. Mary's 4. Robert Morris 5. Saint Francis U 6. Sacred Heart 7. LIU Brooklyn 8. Central Connecticut The 2019 Seahawks will feature a quartet of senior captains in attack Anna Belle Reilly, defenders Maddie Courtney and Maggie Jent, along with graduate student Kelsey Fee in goal. In Reilly and Courtney, Wagner returns a pair 2018 All-NEC First-Team performers. Reilly, who was a Second-Team All-NEC selection in 2017, is Wagner's leading returning scorer, having totaled 57 points as a junior on 26 goals and a team-high 31 assists, which rank third on the Wagner single-season chart. Courtney is an athletic and aggressive defender who has been a stalwart on the Seahawk back line throughout her career. En route to earning All-NEC First-Team honors last season, Courtney ranked second on the team in both ground balls (49) and caused turnovers (26).