After making its third consecutive visit to the MCLA national championship game, Chapman is the consensus pick to win the Southwestern Lacrosse Conference again according to the SLC preseason coaches poll, which was released Wednesday.
Chapman (16-1) swept all 10 first place votes and the Panthers were 15 points clear of Concordia-Irvine (12-3) in the second chair. Grand Canyon (9-4) and Arizona State (8-8) rounded out the top four.
Chapman entered the finals of the 2018 MCLA National Championships powered by Under Armour game as the undefeated No. 1 seed, but ran into a hot Michigan State team in the title tilt. Concordia-Irvine and Grand Canyon also qualified for nationals.
“The SLC features some of the best student-athletes and coaches in the country, and that will be on display again this spring,” said conference director Matt Holman. “I look forward to seeing how our teams stack up with each other, and the rest of the country.”
2019 SLC Division I Preseason Coaches Poll
PLACE TEAM POINTS 1st VOTES
1. Chapman 10 10
2. Concordia-Irvine 25
3. Grand Canyon 28
4. Arizona State 37
5. San Diego State 57
6. Arizona 58
7. USC 73
8. UNLV 75
9. UCLA 90
10. Claremont 97
2019 SLC Division II Preseason Poll
In a tight poll that saw four different teams receive first place votes, Cal State San Marcos was tabbed as the favorite in the Southwestern Lacrosse Conference’s Division II preseason coaches poll.
The Cougars (13-3) edged out second place Northern Arizona (10-2) by three points and defending conference champion Cal State Fullerton (10-5) by four. San Diego (9-2) rounded out the top four.
San Marcos had the least amount of first place votes with one, but NAU (2), Fullerton (4) or San Diego (2) had the consistent polling to catch last year’s runner-up.
“SLC Division II has always been competitive and that won’t change this year,” said conference director Matt Holman. “We have five really strong programs and a couple more that are primed to take the next step.”
Both defending champion Fullerton and runner-up San Marcos qualified for the 2018 MCLA National Championships powered by Under Armour while Northern Arizona was just on the outside of the final 16 qualifiers.
PLACE TEAM POINTS 1st VOTES
1. Cal State San Marcos 22 1
2. Northern Arizona 25 3
3. Cal State Fullerton 26 4
4. San Diego 35 2
5. UC San Diego 47
6. Loyola Marymount 71
7. Cal State Long Beach 72
8. Biola 78
9. UC Irvine 81
10. Cal State Channel Islands 100
11. Marymount 103
