The Northwest Conference women's lacrosse preseason poll has been released, with Willamette University securing the top spot as voted on by the conference’s head coaches. The Bearcats received eight first-place votes and totaled 64 points in the poll.
George Fox University placed second with 56 points, followed by Whitworth University, which earned one first-place vote and 48 points overall. Whitman College closely trailed in fourth place with 46 points, while Linfield University rounded out the top five with 36 points.
Lewis & Clark College (23 points), the University of Puget Sound (22 points), and Pacific University (21 points) finished sixth through eighth in a tightly contested portion of the poll. Pacific Lutheran University, in its first season competing in a full conference schedule, placed ninth with eight points.
This season marks a historic moment for Northwest Conference women's lacrosse, as both Pacific Lutheran and Lewis & Clark begin play as full members of the conference schedule.
Conference competition is set to begin on April 5th as teams compete for the conference title. The Northwest Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament is scheduled for May 3-4th, the regular season champion will earn hosting rights for the entire tournament.
(Points awarded on a 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Coaches could not vote for their own teams; numbers in parentheses indicate first place votes)
|
Team
|
Pts.
|
2024 NWC Finish
|
|
Willamette (8)
|
64
|
2nd
|
|
George Fox
|
56
|
1st
|
|
Whitworth (1)
|
48
|
3rd
|
|
Whitman
|
46
|
4th
|
|
Linfield
|
36
|
5th
|
|
Lewis & Clark
|
23
|
-
|
|
Puget Sound
|
22
|
6th
|
|
Pacific
|
21
|
7th
|
|
Pacific Lutheran
|
8
|
-
|