The Hope College women’s lacrosse team has been picked third in the 2014 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Preseason Coaches Poll.
Coach Tracy Benjamin’s Flying Dutch totaled 22 points in the poll to trail 2013 MIAA champion Adrian College and Alma College.
Adrian received seven of eight possible first-place votes to top the preseason poll with nine points. Alma had 15 points and two first-place votes.
MIAA Preseason Poll Results (first-place votes in parenthesis):
1. Adrian (7) 9 pts
2. Alma (2) 15
3. Hope 22
4. Albion 34
T5. Calvin 38
T5. Kalamazoo 38
7. Trine 49
8. Olivet 56
9. Saint Mary’s 63
Hope begins the 2014 season on Wednesday, March 5, when it hosts Wilmington (Ohio) at Van Andel Stadium.
The Flying Dutch is coming off an inaugural varsity season in which it posted a 4-2 league record to finish third in the MIAA and an overall mark of 6-9. Hope ended the regular season on a five-game win streak before losing to Alma in the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament.