Posted: Feb 14, 2018

CCC Pre-season Coaches' Poll: Men's Lacrosse No. 7

Salve Regina was picked to finish seventh in the CCC and gets the men's lacrosse season started on Saturday, Feb. 17 with a non-conference matchup with Clark.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – For the third year in a row, Western New England was selected as the favorite to win the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Men's Lacrosse Championship. Last year's CCC Tournament runner-up received 77 points in the poll, including five first place votes. Voting was completed last week by the league's nine men's lacrosse head coaches.

The Golden Bears finished last season with a 7-1 CCC (8-10 overall) record and entered the CCC Championship Tournament as the No. 2 seed. After defeating third seed University of New England in the CCC Semifinals, they made their seventh straight trip to the Conference Championship game. However, their attempt at a CCC Tournament Championship repeat was denied.

Endicott, which knocked off WNE 12-9 in the championship game, was selected second in the poll as it collected 75 points and the remaining four first place votes. The Gulls put together a perfect conference season in 2017, posting an 8-0 CCC (10-8 overall) record in the regular-season and picking up two tournament wins en route to the Tournament Championship title. In the NCAA Tournament, Endicott dropped a First Round decision to SUNY Cortand.

The University of New England, a CCC Semifinalist in 2017, landed in the No. 3 spot in this year's poll. The Nor'easters received 62 points in the voting. Roger Williams settled into the No. 4 slot this year earning 53 points, while Curry rounded out the top five with 45.

Nichols (31 points), Salve Regina (29), Wentworth (22), and Gordon (11) closed out the poll in that order.

Salve Regina gets the men's lacrosse season started on Saturday, Feb. 17 with a non-conference matchup with Clark. The eight other CCC teams get underway the following week. The conference schedule kicks off with a single matchup on Wednesday, March 7 between UNE and Endicott. The first full conference play date is Saturday, March 24. The top six teams in the 2018 regular-season conference standings will qualify for the CCC Championship Tournament, which starts with the quarterfinals on Saturday, April 28 and concludes with the Conference Championship on Friday, May 4. The CCC Tournament Champion will earn the conference's automatic qualifier in to the 2018 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship.

Click HERE to view the whole 2017 CCC men's lacrosse schedule.