Coaches vote Stanford 2019 Pac-12 Women's Lacrosse favorite

SAN FRANCISCO - In a polling of the Pac-12 coaches, STANFORD was voted the 2019 preseason favorite to win the second-ever Pac-12 Women’s Lacrosse Championship. The Cardinal, winners of the inaugural Pac-12 Women’s Lacrosse Tournament crown last April, garnered 25 points and five first-place votes to finish atop the polling. Women’s lacrosse became the 13th women’s sport sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference.

COLORADO was selected to finish second in the coaches poll with 21 points and collected the last available first-place vote. The Buffs won the 2018 Pac-12 regular-season title and earned an NCAA Tournament berth where they picked up a first-round win over Jacksonville following the program’s first-ever postseason appearance in 2017.

USC tallied 17 points to rank third in the preseason poll after being selected the league favorite ahead of the 2018 season. OREGON (13 points) was slated fourth while CALIFORNIA (eight points) was voted fifth and ARIZONA STATE rounded out the poll in sixth (six points). The Sun Devils begin their second season of varsity competition, while California, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford and USC were a part of the MPSF prior to the Pac-12’s formation.

No. 17 Colorado leads three Conference teams ranked in the IWLCA Preseason Poll, joined by No. 18 Stanford and No. 21 USC. The 2019 Pac-12 Women’s Lacrosse season kicks off on Friday, Feb. 8 with three home-hosted matches as California takes on Michigan, Stanford welcomes No. 19 Denver and Arizona State plays Kennesaw State.

Oregon will host the Pac-12 Tournament in Eugene from April 25-28 at Papé Field.

The following are the results of the preseason coaches’ poll. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team.

2019 Pac-12 Women's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches Poll (First-place votes)

2018 Pac-12 Women's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches Poll