NEW LONDON, N.H. – February 21, 2019 – The Colby-Sawyer College women's lacrosse team was chosen to finish sixth in its first season as a member of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC).

Johnson & Wales was selected as the preseason favorite with 138 points, including nine of the 12 first-place votes, while Lasell was selected second with 132 points and two first-place votes. Saint Joseph's (Maine) finished third in voting with 118 points and received the final first-place vote. Regis was tabbed fourth with 101 points, followed by Simmons in fifth at 95 points and Colby-Sawyer in sixth with 86 points. Full GNAC release > HERE

After reaching the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) title game a season ago, the Chargers (10-6, 5-2 NAC) are poised to make a postseason run in their first year with the GNAC. Despite graduating the program's all-time leader in goals and last year's conference Player of the Year, Nicole Lavigne (Berlin, Vt.), the team returns last year's NAC Rookie of the Year in Briana Couture (South Hadley, Mass.) and Defensive Player of the Year in junior Kailyn Lapham (Medway, Mass.). Couture was fourth on the team with 37 points on 33 goals and four assists. Lapham played every second in goal last season and earned 10 victories. The team will also have a core of senior leadership with the return of the second and third leading point scorers. A pair of first-team all-conference selections last season, Sierra Schuster (Hopkinton, N.H.) and Brittany Ireland (Amherst, N.H.) notched 55 points and 46 points, respectively.  

The Chargers will begin the season with a pair of non-conference road games before playing their first GNAC contest at Saint Joseph's (Conn.) on March 9. The team will play its first home conference game on March 16 against Lasell. The regular season will conclude at home on April 20 against preseason favorite Johnson & Wales. The postseason is slated to begin on Saturday, April 27.

In three meetings with GNAC teams last year, the Chargers were 2-1. Colby-Sawyer defeated Norwich 17-11 and Rivier 23-10. The lone loss came at Simmons in overtime, 14-13.

2019 GNAC Women's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll
 

Place	Team	Points	1st Place
1.	Johnson & Wales	138	9
2.	Lasell	132	2
3.	Saint Joseph's (Maine)	118	1
4.	Regis	101
5.	Simmons	95
6.	Colby-Sawyer	86
7.	Norwich	78
8.	Emmanuel	58
9.	Rivier	49
10.	Albertus Magnus	30
11.	Anna Maria	28
12.	Saint Joseph (Conn.)	23

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