West Chester Picked Second In PSAC Preseason Coaches Poll

The following is a press release from the Athletic Department.

West Chester University’s women’s lacrosse squad was picked to finish second in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference preseason coaches’ poll released late last week. The Golden Rams received three first-place vote.
 
The Golden Rams were picked behind three-time defending conference champion Lock Haven, which received nine first-place votes, was picked to win the regular-season title once again.
 
West Chester, which has appeared in the PSAC Tournament championship game in each of the last 11 years, will be aiming to win its first PSAC championship since 2008. The PSAC women’s lacrosse championship game has pitted West Chester vs. Lock Haven in each of the past six campaigns.
 
The Golden Rams, who have knocked off the Lady Eagles in the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two seasons after falling to them in the PSAC Tournament, will need to replace the production of four of their top five scorers from last season as those four individuals combined for 136 goals. Leading the way will be junior attacker Tori Dugan, who at 46 goals and 59 points last season, is the team’s leading returning goal-scorer and point-getter. Senior Erin Oczkowski (29 goals, 34 pts.) is also back.
 
Although West Chester lost the majority of its offensive production from 2011, it should be strong on defense once again as the Rams return a pair of senior starting defenders in Andrea Smith and Kelly Klever.
 
Three of the other four teams that qualified for the PSAC Tournament last season filled in spots No. 3 through No. 6 as Mercyhurst and Gannon followed in third and fourth place, respectively, and East Stroudsburg came in at sixth, the same spot that it finished in last season. IUP, which finished just a game out of playoff position last season, is fifth. Bloomsburg, a PSAC Tournament qualifier in each of the last five consecutive seasons, came in at seventh. Slippery Rock, which finished just a game out of playoff position last season as well, is eighth, while Shippensburg is ninth. Millersville, Edinboro and Kutztown round out the poll.

For the third straight season, the PSAC will conduct a six-team postseason tournament. The No. 6 seed will play the No. 3 seed and the No. 5 seed will take on the No. 4 seed on campus sites at the higher seeds in the quarterfinals while the top seed will host the semifinals and championship match. Both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds will receive byes into the semifinal round.
 
West Chester opens its 2012 slate Tuesday afternoon at Holy Family.
 
2012 PSAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll
  1. Lock Haven (9)
  2. West Chester (3)
  3. Mercyhurst
  4. Gannon
  5. IUP
  6. East Stroudsburg
  7. Bloomsburg
  8. Slippery Rock
  9. Shippensburg
10. Millersville
11. Edinboro
12. Kutztown