MILWAUKEE, Wis. (naccsports.org) --- Two-time defending champion Aurora University has been selected as the favorite to capture the 2023 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) women's lacrosse title according to the annual preseason poll released Monday.
Aurora hauled in 13 of 14 first-place votes to secure the top spot with 97 points. The Spartans finished 14-6 overall and were a perfect 6-0 in league play, outscoring NACC opponents by a 128-15 margin. Aurora also captured the 2022 NACC tournament title to advance to the NCAA championships, where the Spartans fell in the first round to Rhodes (Tenn.).
Concordia University Chicago, which secured the final first-place vote, posted 70 points to edge Concordia University Wisconsin (66) and Edgewood College (63) for second place.
Marian University edged Illinois Institute of Technology, 41-37, for fifth place, while Beloit College ranked seventh with 18 points.
The 2023 NACC women's lacrosse preseason poll consists of votes from the league's head women's lacrosse coaches and athletics communications professionals.
New Coaches: There are two new coaches in the NACC this season. At Edgewood,
Courtney Novak has taken charge of the Eagle program. Novak spent the last two seasons at Northern Vermont University-Lyndon as Director of Lacrosse where she was responsible for both the Hornets' men's and women's programs.
Prior to her time at Lyndon, Novak served as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator at Chapman University in Orange, Calif.
Kirk Lamitie returns for a second stint as head coach at Illinois Tech after serving in an interim capacity during the 2022 season. Originally hired in August 2013 to start the Scarlet Hawk program, Lamitie posted a 33-29 record in four seasons (2014-17), highlighted by a 15-2 mark and a share of the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference title in 2017. Following his first stint at Illinois Tech, Lamitie spent four years as the inaugural head women's coach at NCAA Division II Lewis University.
2023 Schedule: Illinois Tech will be the first NACC program to take the field when the Scarlet Hawks travel to Adrian on Friday afternoon. Marian (vs. Carthage), Beloit (at Cornell College), and Edgewood (vs. Elmhurst) follow on Saturday, while Concordia Chicago welcomes Saint Mary's (Ind.) in its season opener on Sunday.
Aurora hosts Illinois Wesleyan in its 2023 lid-lifter on Wednesday, March 1, while Concordia Wisconsin will be the final program to get underway when the Falcons travel to Elmhurst on Friday, March 3.
The round-robin NACC slate begins Saturday, April 1, with Beloit traveling to Concordia Wisconsin and Concordia Chicago entertaining Marian. Aurora hosts Illinois Tech the following Wednesday (April 5) in the league opener for both schools, while Edgewood opens its NACC run the same day at CUW.
The final date of regular-season play is Sunday, April 29.
NACC Tournament: The top four teams in the final standings qualify for the 2023 NACC Women's Lacrosse Tournament. Semifinals are slated for Wednesday, May 3 with the final to follow on Saturday, May 6. All tournament games will be held on campus sites. The tournament champion receives the NACC's automatic berth in the 2023 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship.
2023 NACC Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll
| Institution |
Points |
| Aurora (13) |
97 |
| Concordia Chicago (1) |
70 |
| Concordia Wisconsin |
66 |
| Edgewood |
63 |
| Marian |
41 |
| Illinois Tech |
37 |
| Beloit |
18 |