NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Massachusetts, last year’s champion, has been selected as the preseason favorite for the 2017 Atlantic 10 Conference field hockey race. The league announced the annual Preseason Poll and Preseason All-Conference team Tuesday ahead of the start of the season Friday.
The Minutewomen won last year's A-10 Champinoship and were chosen first in the poll with 77 total points and six first-place votes. UMass looks for its 17th A-10 championship title. Led by senior midfielder Sarah Hawkshaw and senior defender Melanie Kreusch, who were both voted to the Preseason All-Conference team, Massachusetts finished second last year at 6-2 in league play and 14-8 overall. Hawkshaw was an All-America Second Team selection last year while Kreusch, the A-10 Defensive Player of the Year, earned All-Region First Team honors in 2016.
Led by 2016 A-10 Offensive Player of the year and 2017 Preseason All-Conference selection Anna Willocks, Saint Joseph’s was picked to finish second. The Hawks won the regular season last year with a perfect 8-0 league record and a 15-6 mark overall. They garnered two first-place votes and 71 points overall. Willocks is joined on the Preseason All-Conference Team by last year’s A-10 Rookie of the Year Pepa Serrano.
Picked third is Richmond, which tallied one first-place votes and 68 points. The Spiders were 6-2 last year, tied with UMass for second place, and 8-11 overall. They last won the A-10 title in 2014 and the regular season in 2015. Senior forward Megan Miller was named to the Preseason All-Conference Team.
VCU was chosen to finish fourth with 48 points and Lock Haven was selected for fifth with 43. Saint Francis was picked sixth with 31 points and La Salle was seventh with 28 points. Davidson and Saint Louis rounded out the poll. Lock Haven and Saint Francis are affiliate members of the Atlantic 10 in field hockey.
The league’s nine head coaches voted in the poll and for the Preseason All-Conference Team, which is listed below.
The 2017 Atlantic 10 field hockey season gets underway on Friday with all nine teams playing season-opening matches. Conference play begins on Friday, Sept. 15 and the 2017 Atlantic 10 Championship will be played at Garber Field in Amherst, Mass., Nov. 3-4.
2017 Atlantic 10 Field Hockey Preseason Poll
Number in parenthesis indicates first-place votes.
Massachusetts (6) - 77
Saint Joseph's (2) - 71
Richmond (1) - 68
VCU - 48
Lock Haven - 43
Saint Francis - 31
La Salle - 28
Davidson - 24
Saint Louis - 15
2017 A-10 Field Hockey Preseason All-Conference Team
Hannah Fisher, Davidson
Tamia Roach, Lock Haven
Sarah Hawkshaw, Massachusetts
Melanie Kreusch, Massachusetts
Megan Miller, Richmond
Brea Seabrook, Saint Francis
Pepa Serrano, Saint Joseph’s
Anna Willocks, Saint Joseph’s
Emily Mcnamara, VCU
Natalie Bohmke, VCU
Goalkeeper
Elizabeth Dyer, Saint Francis