University of New Hampshire Athletics
2/9/2021 12:24:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
BOSTON – The University of New Hampshire women's lacrosse team, led by ninth-year head coach Sarah Albrecht, has been selected third in the 2021 America East Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll that was released Tuesday.
The 2021 Wildcats are captained by grad student Rylee Leonard (Coventry, R.I.) and senior Tatum Benesh (Horseheads, N.Y). Leonard was an America East All-Conference Second Team honoree in 2019, when Albrecht was voted Coach of the year, and both Taylor Dudek (Amherst, N.H.) and Issy Torres (Elmhurst, Ill.) were named to the conference's All-Rookie Team.
Stony Brook University received all seven possible first-place votes and 49 points to sit atop the conference preseason poll for the ninth consecutive year. UAlbany received the other first-place vote and 43 points.
UNH was next with 34 points, followed by UMBC (30), University of Vermont (26), Binghamton University (21), UMass Lowell (15) and University of Hartford (7).
The top four teams in the conference standings will qualify for the America East Women's Lacrosse Championship, which will be held at tournament's No. 1 seed. The semifinals take place May 6 and the championship is scheduled for May 8. The tourney winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
VIEW 2021 SCHEDULE
The 2020 Wildcats were 1-4 when the remainder of the season was canceled the second week of March because of COVID-19. In 2019, UNH finished 10-7 overall and 5-2 in America East.
2021 America East Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll
| Place | Team | Points | 1st Place Votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Stony Brook | 49 | 7 |
| 2. | UAlbany | 43 | 1 |
| 3. | UNH | 34 | -- |
| 4. | UMBC | 30 | -- |
| 5. | Vermont | 26 | -- |
| 6. | Binghamton | 21 | -- |
| 7. | UMass Lowell | 15 | -- |
| 8. | Hartford | 7 | -- |
