WINTHROP, Mass. – Saint Joseph's College of Maine has finished first in the 2014 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Field Hockey Preseason Poll, as voted upon by the league's head coaches, it was announced on Thursday morning.
The upcoming fall season will mark the first-ever season in the sport of field hockey for the GNAC.
The Monks, who went 15-4 overall last season and 7-2 in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) play, received five first-place votes and 47 points in the preseason ledger. Last year, they advanced all the way to the NAC Tournament Final.
Saint Joseph's (ME) senior Effie Drew returns as the team's top scorer from a year ago, as she totaled 10 goals and three assists for 23 points last fall, earning NAC First Team All-Conference recognition in the process.
Simmons College (12-8, 6-3 NAC) finished second in the poll with 40 points and one first-place nod, while Anna Maria College (15-7, 6-0 NECC) took the third spot with 35 points and the other first-place tally. Lasell College (10-10, 4-5 NAC) followed up in fourth place with 31 points.
Johnson & Wales University (5-13) and Rivier University (4-14, 0-9 NAC) tied for fifth with 18 points apiece, and Mount Ida College rounded out the poll with seven points.
With seven schools sponsoring a field hockey program in the GNAC, the conference tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. GNAC Tournament play will kick off on Saturday, November 1, with the top-six qualifying for postseason play.
In addition to Saint Joseph's (ME), Simmons, Lasell and Rivier all previously played in the NAC, while Anna Maria won the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) regular-season and tournament titles last season, earning an NCAA bid in the process.
Johnson & Wales went 5-13 overall last season as an independent, and the upcoming campaign marks the first for the Mount Ida program.
Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement.
2014 GNAC Field Hockey Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Saint Joseph's (5) - 47
2. Simmons (1) - 40
3. Anna Maria (1) - 35
4. Lasell - 31
T5. Johnson & Wales - 18
T5. Rivier - 18
7. Mount Ida - 7
( ) - indicates number of first-place votes
COURTESY OF GNAC SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
