North Attleboro, Mass. - Coming off a season where it finished as the NCAA Division II Championship runner-up, Adelphi has been picked as the conference preseason favorite according to the Northeast 10 Conference Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Poll on Thursday afternoon.
Adelphi, the reigning NE10 champion, recorded 81 points and all nine first-place votes from opposing coaches to claim the top spot in the poll. Pace finished second with 73 points and one first-place vote, while Saint Anselm (62 points), Bentley (54 points) and Assumption (48 points) rounded-out the top five. To view the full poll, see below.
Adelphi, under head coach
Pat McCabe, have made two consecutive trips to the NCAA Division II Championship game. In 2025, the Panthers went 19-4 overall, which included winning their first NE10 Championship since 2017. In the national title game - the program's 12th all-time appearance - Adelphi lost to Tampa, 15-9. The Panthers return all six of their top goal scorers from last year, including
Ashley Kolomechuk, who ranked second among all NE10 players with 74 goals.
In total, the Panthers have won eight NE10 titles and appeared in the finals on 12 different occasions. No other team still in the conference has more than one championship trophy to their name, as the league as largely commanded by the likes of Stonehill, Le Moyne and Adelphi throughout the early 2000s.
The NE10 continues its national dominance in women's lacrosse, as four programs have been selected in the Preseason Top 25 of the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) rankings. Highlighting the group was Adelphi at No. 2 and Pace at No. 7.
Women's lacrosse begins its season on February 12, with Saint Michael's playing in non-conference action. To view the full 2026 schedule, click
HERE. Watch all home and conference games this season on
NE10 NOW on FloSports.
2026 NE10 Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Poll
| Rank |
Team |
Votes (1st Place) |
| 1 |
Adelphi Panthers |
81 (9) |
| 2 |
Pace Setters |
73 (1) |
| 3 |
Saint Anselm Hawks |
62 |
| 4 |
Bentley Falcons |
54 |
| 5 |
Assumption Greyhounds |
48 |
| 6 |
SCSU Owls |
44 |
| 7 |
SNHU Penmen |
36 |
| 8 |
Saint Michael's Purple Knights |
22 |
| 9 |
Franklin Pierce Ravens |
20 |
| 10 |
AIC Yellow Jackets |
10
|
