Buffs Earn No. 17 Ranking In IWLCA Preseason Poll

BOULDER — With the start of the 2018 NCAA Lacrosse season less than two weeks away, the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) has released its preseason poll, which has the Colorado Buffaloes coming in 17^th overall.

The poll, which has been expanded from 20 to 25 teams this year, had the Buffs ranked 16^th at the end of the 2017 campaign. CU finished that season 16-4 overall while earning it's first-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Buffs return seven of its 12 starters from last season, most notably senior Darby Kiernan, who led the Buffs with 77 points. The IWCLA Third Team All-American tallied a team-best 52 goals and added 22 assists. She led CU with 120 draw controls, which was 11^th in the NCAA. CU also returns senior Sarah Brown, an IWLCA Second Team All-American, who recorded a team-best and CU single-season record 33 caused turnovers. She added 41 draw controls and 39 ground balls.

The 2017 NCAA Champion Maryland is the preseason favorite, picking up 24 of 25 first-place votes. Stony Brook earned the other first-place vote and is second in the preseason poll. North Carolina, Penn State and Florida round out the top-five.

Colorado will start the season on Friday, February 9 against Michigan in Florida. Then on Feb. 11, the Buffs will take on the fifth-rated Florida Gators.

The first IWLCA regular season poll will be released on Monday, February 19.

IWLCA Division I Coaches Preseason Poll – January 29, 2018

*Rank*	*Institution*	*Points*	*FPV*	*2017 Record*
1	Maryland	624	24	23-0
2	Stony Brook	582	1	20-2
3	North Carolina	564	0	17-3
4	Penn State	511	0	17-4
5	Florida	501	0	17-3
6	Boston College	475	0	17-7
7	Syracuse	465	0	15-7
8	Southern California	436	0	18-4
9	Princeton	424	0	15-4
10	Navy (USNA)	422	0	18-5
11	Northwestern	391	0	11-10
12	Penn	362	0	13-4
13	Cornell	306	0	13-6
14	Virginia	299	0	12-9
15	Notre Dame	275	0	11-8
16	James Madison	235	0	14-7
17	Colorado	228	0	16-4
18	Massachusetts Amherst	168	0	17-4
19	Towson	137	0	12-7
20	Duke	133	0	8-9
21	Elon	106	0	13-7
22	Johns Hopkins	94	0	11-7
23	Stanford	80	0	12-6
24	Albany	69	0	12-6
25	Loyola (MD)	64	0	11-8

Note: The 2018 Coaches Poll has been expanded to include 25 teams in all three NCAA Divisions this year in order to more accurately reflect the growth of the game at the collegiate level in recent years. The first Division I regular season poll for the 2018 season will be published on February 19.

Players Mentioned

Sarah Brown

Darby Kiernan

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