WINTHROP, Mass. – Johnson & Wales and Saint Joseph's (Maine) will come into the 2024 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Lacrosse Season as the favorites to win their divisions according to the results of the Preseason Coaches' Polls that were conducted last week.

The defending conference champion Wildcats were picked atop the South Division Poll unanimously, earning 128 points and all 16 first place votes cast by the league's head women's lacrosse coaches. In the North Division, the 2023 GNAC Tournament runner-up Monks earned 120 points and 11 first place votes.

Last season, JWU went 13-0 in GNAC play (16-3 overall) and cruised through the GNAC Tournament, defeating Elms, Emmanuel, and Saint Joseph's (Maine) along the way. The Wildcats would represent the conference in the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship by virtue of the league's automatic qualifier, but would fall to Christopher Newport in the opening round, 17-7.

The Monks also put together a strong season en route to their third-straight GNAC Championship appearance. They finished 12-1 in GNAC play (16-4 overall) and will be looking to regain the conference crown after falling in the final last year.

If the poll results are any indication, SJC will have a challenge trying to win the North Division as both Simmons and Emmanuel, which placed second and third in the divisional poll, also earned first place votes. The Sharks received 108 points and two top nods, while the Saints recorded 104 points with three first place selections. Both teams were GNAC Semifinalists a year ago. Colby-Sawyer rounded out the top-five in the North with 80 points.

Norwich (65 points), Rivier (39), New England College (35), and Anna Maria (25) closed out the voting up north.

Looking to prevent JWU from taking the South Division is the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.), which earned 100 points from the conference's 16 head coaches. Dean and Elms were next in the rankings with 86 and 78 points, respectively, while Lasell and Regis both earned 62 points to tie for fifth.

Albertus and Mitchell rounded out the South Division Poll with 36 and 24 points, respectively.

The opening draw of the GNAC Women's Lacrosse season is on Wednesday, Feb. 21 as teams open their non-conference slates that week. Conference action begins on Saturday, March 9. The conference schedule features 11 matchups for each team. Each team will play every opponent in their division once, plus for opponents from the other division.

The top five teams in each division at the end of the regular season will qualify for the 2024 iteration of the GNAC Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament, which will begin with a Play-In round featuring the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in each division. The winners of those games will advance to the GNAC Quarterfinals on Saturday, April 27. The advancing teams will compete in the GNAC Semifinals on Tuesday, April 30 for the right to compete for the GNAC Championship on Saturday, May 4. The winner of the GNAC Championship game will be named the conference champion and earn the league's automatic qualifier into the 2024 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship.

2024 GNAC Women's Lacrosse Preseason Polls

ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 16 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.

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