NEW HAVEN, Conn. (February 6, 2019) -- Georgian Court University, which claimed the inaugural Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Lacrosse Championship in 2018, finds itself back atop the league as the Lions on Wednesday were tabbed first in the league's 2019 preseason coaches poll, as announced by Commissioner Dan Mara. The Lions earned 34 points in the voting, including four of six first-place votes. The voting for the poll was conducted by the league's six head coaches in the sport.

GCU knocked off Chestnut Hill College, 9-7, in last spring's CACC Final to win the conference championship. The Griffins followed the Lions in the preseason voting, as they were second with 30 points and a pair of first-place nods. Wilmington University rounded out the upper half of the poll, as the Wildcats were third with 22 points. WilmU qualified for the CACC semifinals last season in their inaugural year of competition at the varsity level.

The 2019 CACC men's lacrosse season kicks off next weekend (Feb. 16-17) with a trio of teams in action. The season gets underway on Saturday the 16th with both Georgian Court and Chestnut Hill facing Southern New Hampshire and UDC, respectively. Felician University gets its campaign going on Sunday the 17th, as it travels to Baltimore, Md., to take on Barton.

The regular season will be a buildup to the 2019 CACC Championship Tournament, which will be held May 2 & 4, at GCU in Lakewood, N.J. The semifinals will be held on Thursday the 2nd, followed by the championship final on Saturday the 4th. The CACC Men's Lacrosse Championship will be part of the 2019 CACC Spring Championship Festival in Lakewood, which will take place from May 2-5, and will also include the softball, women's lacrosse, men's outdoor track & field and women's outdoor track & field championships.

2019 CACC MEN'S LACROSSE PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. Georgian Court University 34 (4)
2. Chestnut Hill College 30 (2)
3. Wilmington University 22
T4. Dominican College 16
T4. Post University 16
6. Felician University 8

() - First-Place Votes

ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University), Nyack College, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.