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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             First place votes in parentheses

 
   
Somerset, NJ -- All indications are that we may be headed toward a photo finish in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's lacrosse this season.

In one of the tightest votes yet, Bryant edged defending NEC champion Wagner in the annual preseason poll conducted by the league's head coaches. Each school received four first place votes.

Mount St. Mary’s and Robert Morris occupied the third and fourth spots, respectively. Saint Francis U was picked fifth, with Sacred Heart, LIU Brooklyn and Central Connecticut rounding out the poll in that order.
 
Bryant has won or shared each of the last five NEC regular season crowns, has captured three of the last five NEC Tournament titles and have posted a 32-3 mark in conference play over the last five seasons. Last year the Bulldogs possessed the league's most potent offense (14.50 gpg) en route to the program’s fifth-straight appearance in the NEC final.
 
Led by first year head coach Brianna Roche, the Bulldogs return two-time reigning NEC Offensive Player of the Year Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, NY/Mount Sinai), a senior midfielder. DeMeo led the conference with 3.28 goals per game and 59 total goals in 2018. The two-time All-NEC first teamer also ranked third on the conference circuit with 3.78 points per outing.
 
Including DeMeo, Bryant will bring back all three of its All-NEC first teamers, including two-time honoree Caitlin Breglia (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach), a junior attacker. As a freshman, Breglia tallied 40 goals on the season, then bumped that total to 48 goals and added 22 assists for a league-leading 70  points a year ago. Senior midfielder Lauren Britton (Monmouth Beach, NJ/Shore Regional) is also back for Bryant. Britton finished 2018 ranked fifth with 4.28 draw controls per game. She also tallied 25 goals and 10 assists.
 
Wagner, which won its second NEC Tournament championshio in three years and has posted a 27-8 record against conference rivals the last five seasons, returns two first team All-NEC selections for first year head coach Michelle Tumolo. Anna Belle Reilly (Paradize Valley, AZ/Notre Dame Prep), a first team senior attack, finished the 2018 season ranked second in the conference in assists per game (1.67). The senior also finished seventh on the circuit with 3.06 points per outing, ending the year with 25 goals and 30 assists. Senior defender Maddie Courtney (Columbia, MD/Marriots Ridge) is also back for the Seahawks. Courtney ranked third on the team in ground balls (46) and helped anchor a Wagner defense that led the NEC with 11.56 caused turnovers per game.

Under fifth-year head coach Lauren Schwarzmann, Mount St. Mary’s returns the 2018 NEC Defensive Player of the Year in senior goalkeeper Jillian Petito (Ocean City, MD/Stephen Decatur). The All-NEC first team netminder led the NEC and ranked first in the NCAA in save percentage (.563), third in goals-against average (8.53), fifth in ground balls per game (3.71) and 11th in saves per game (11.12). She had the only shutout among all NEC netminders last season. Schwarzmann herself was named the 2018 NEC Coach of the Year after the Mount improved its win total from four in 2017 to 10 a year ago and qualified for the NEC Tournament for the first time since 2015.

Robert Morris brings back two All-NEC first teamers to a team that has qualified for five straight NEC Tournaments. Senior attack Shannon Lynch (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) led the Colonials with 24 goals, 25 assists and 49 points. She ranked third in the NEC with 1.47 assists per game and ninth with 2.88 points per game. Junior defender Kelly Colegrove (Marriottsville, MD/Marriotts Ridge) was the league leader in 2018 with 2.00 caused turnovers per contest.

The 2018 regular season begins on Friday, February 8 and conference action starts up on Friday, April 5. The 2019 NEC Women’s Lacrosse Championship will be held on May 2 & 4, hosted by the top seed.
 
About The Northeast Conference
Now entering its 38th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#23), Baltimore (#27), and Hartford/New Haven (#30).  Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. Merrimack will join the NEC as a full-time member in July, 2019. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, all @NECsports.