Commonwealth Coast Conference 2017 Men's Lacrosse Coaches' poll
WATCH VIDEO TO SEE COACHES' SELECTIONS REVEALED
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – After a perfect Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) season last year, Western New England will try to make it two in a row as the Golden Bears were picked as the favorite in the 2017 CCC Men's Lacrosse Coaches' Preseason Poll.
The reigning champions – and winners of the four of the last five – earned 79 points and seven first place votes in the poll conducted by the league's nine CCC men's lacrosse head coaches.
The Golden Bears had an 8-0 CCC (15-4 Overall) record last year and earned the No. 1 seed in the 2016 CCC Championship Tournament. After receiving a bye to the semifinals, Western New England dispatched the No. 4-seeded University of New England, 17-5. In the CCC Championship game against Endicott – the fourth championship meeting in as many years – WNE came away with the narrow 14-12 victory.
Western New England earned the right to host SUNY Cortland in the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship First Round, but were eliminated by the Red Dragons with a 13-5 defeat.
Last year's CCC Tournament runner-up, Endicott, was also the runner-up in the 2017 preseason rankings. The Gulls grabbed the other two first place votes and earned 74 points in the poll.
The Gulls, which went 7-1 in the CCC (9-9 Overall), will be looking to return to the CCC Championship game for the fourth year in a row. The Gulls only loss in conference play last year came at the hands of the Golden Bears.
The two semifinalists from a year ago, Roger Williams and the University of New England, finished third and fourth in the poll, respectively. The Hawks earned 62 points, while the Nor'easters garnered 54. Salve Regina rounded out the top five with 44 points.
Wentworth (36 points), Curry (27), Gordon (15), and Nichols (14) rounded out this year's table in that order.
Returning significant starters and over 75 percent of point scoring, Salve Regina will look to make its fourth straight trip, including 10 of the last 11, to the conference championship playoffs. Two key returners are senior captains Nick LoCicero (Lynbrook, N.Y.) and Jake Gonzalez (Tolland, Conn.). In three years, LoCicero has recorded 205 points (61 goals and 144 assists). In 2016, he recorded 80 points (29 goals and 51 with 53 ground balls). He holds several all-time, season, and single-game Seahawk records. From 2014-2016, Gonzalez took 617 faceoffs, winning 333; he currently ranks third all-time in Seahawk faceoff win percentage history at 54%.
The men's lacrosse season is scheduled to get underway on Saturday, Feb. 18 with Salve Regina visiting Emmanuel in non-conference action. The quest for the 2017 CCC Championship begins on Saturday, March 25 with four conference matchups on the schedule. The top six teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular season will qualify for the CCC Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament. The tournament begins with the quarterfinal round on Saturday, April 29 and concludes with the Championship game on Saturday, May 6. The CCC Tournament Champion will earn the league's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship.
Click HERE to view the whole 2016-17 CCC men's lacrosse schedule.