Big South Announces 2018 Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll and Honors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – High Point University has been voted the preseason favorite in the Big South Conference Women’s Lacrosse preseason poll by the league’s head coaches, it was announced today by the conference office. The Panthers -- last year’s conference champion -- are the preseason favorite for the fifth time in the league’s six-year history sponsoring women’s lacrosse. In addition, HPU senior attacker Darla Poulin (Hauppauge, N.Y.) is the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, with teammate and senior midfielder Erica Perrotta (Roseland, N.J.) the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honoree.
High Point was a near-unanimous selection to win the Big South Women’s Lacrosse crown in 2018, as the Panthers received seven of the eight first-place votes and finished with 63 out of a possible 64 total points. Last season, HPU went 16-4 overall, won the regular-season championship with a 7-0 record, claimed its third Big South title and collected the league’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory with its 21-15 win over No. 18 Towson. The Panthers return 23 letterwinners and nine starters from 2017 -- including six All-Conference performers and three All-Tournament team members.
Winthrop and Campbell tied for second in the preseason poll with 51 points, while the Eagles collected the remaining first-place vote. Liberty finished fourth in the voting with 38 points. Radford landed in the fifth spot with 32 points, followed by Longwood in sixth-place with 26 points. Presbyterian College received 15 points for seventh in the poll, while Gardner-Webb finished in the eighth and final spot with 12 points.
Poulin earned All-Tournament Team honors last year in helping the Panthers win the conference championship. She scored 12 points in the league’s postseason event on seven goals and five assists, and tallied a team-high six goals in the Panthers’ historic NCAA win over Towson. Poulin finished 2017 with 55 goals (third in the Big South) and 79 points (fourth in the league). She ranked 27th in the nation in scoring and 34th in the country in goals scored. Poulin led the Big South with six game-winning goals in 2017, scored five or more goals six times, and was named the Big South’s Offensive Player of the Week once. In conference matches, Poulin scored 22 goals and 27 points in seven games. She received four first-place votes and 18 total points in the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year voting, ahead of Campbell attacker Kayla Reilly (14 points, two first-place votes) and Winthrop attacker Nicole Beatson (11 points, two first-place votes).
Perrotta is a three-time All-Big South selection -- one of 14 players in league history to earn this distinction and the only player in program annals to do so. She started all 20 games last season and led the squad with 44 ground balls. Her 31 caused turnovers tied for the team lead, while her 38 draw controls were third-most for the Panthers. Named Big South Defensive Player of the Week once last season, Perrotta totaled 20 ground balls in seven league matches in addition to 18 caused turnovers and 18 draw controls. She collected four first-place votes and 16 total points in the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year voting, ahead of Winthrop goalie Alaina Girani (12 points, two first-place votes) and Campbell defender Megan Reilly (11 points, one first-place vote).
Both Poulin and Perrotta earned a spot on the preseason All-Conference team, which is listed below. The team is comprised of three attackers, five midfielders, three defenders, one goalkeeper and three at-large selections.
The 2018 Big South women’s lacrosse season begins Saturday, Feb. 10 with four matches. The first conference weekend is set for Saturday, March 31, and the 2018 Big South Women’s Lacrosse Championship tournament is slated for April 28-May 6. The six-team postseason event will open with two quarterfinal matches on April 28, followed by the Semifinals (May 4) and Finals (May 6) at the No. 1 seed. The champion receives the Big South’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
2018 Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll
| Rk - Team (first-place votes) |
Points |
| 1 - High Point (7) |
63 |
| 2 - Winthrop (1) |
51 |
| Campbell |
51 |
| 4 - Liberty |
38 |
| 5 - Radford |
32 |
| 6 - Longwood |
26 |
| 7 - Presbyterian |
15 |
| 8 - Gardner-Webb |
12 |
Note: points are based on a weighted system, with first-place votes receiving 8 points, followed by 7 points for second-place, and so on.
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
ATT - Darla Poulin, Sr., High Point
ATT - Kayla Reilly, Sr., Campbell
ATT - Nicole Beatson, Sr., Winthrop
MF - Erica Perrotta, Sr., High Point
MF - Melissa Placek, Jr., Campbell
MF - Katherine Judge, Sr., Winthrop
MF - Carly White, Soph., Liberty
MF - Emma Rogers, Jr., Radford
D - Megan Reilly, Sr., Campbell
D - Olivia Nostrant, Sr., High Point
D - Shea Swingle, Soph., Radford
GK - Alaina Girani, R-Jr., Winthrop
AL - Kayla Foster, Jr., Liberty
AL - Molly Barkman, Soph., Longwood
AL - Jill Rall, Soph., High Point
PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Darla Poulin, Sr., High Point
PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Erica Perrotta, Sr., High Point