BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The Charleston Golden Eagles were tabbed to finish sixth in the 2017 MEC Lacrosse Preseason Poll as announced by the conference office Friday afternoon.
 
UC is in its second year as a program and will be led by first-year head coach Elizabeth Gainer. Gainer inherits a team that went 1-11 in 2016 but had all underclassmen on the first-year squad.  The Golden Eagles return All-Conference performers in Peyton Harris (First-Team), Aryanna Jones (Second Team), Catherine Clawson (Honorable Mention) and Esther Yi (Honorable Mention) from last year's squad.  Charleston also brought in 13 new faces to help bolster the lineup and provide much needed depth. 
 
The Golden Eagles open their 2017 campaign Saturday afternoon as they travel to the University of Indianapolis to take on the Greyhounds.  UC makes their home debut on Friday, February 17 at Schoenbaum Stadium, hosting Alderson Broaddus at 4:00 p.m.
 
The Shepherd Rams have been picked to win the 2017 Mountain East Conference women's lacrosse championship by a vote of the league's coaches.

The Rams finished atop the poll with 23 points, including three first-place votes. Shepherd finished second in the regular season last year, but won the MEC Tournament title. SU brings back five of its top seven scorers from last year, including Haley Price who had 46 goals and four assists. 

Last season's regular season champion, Wheeling Jesuit, was picked to finish second in the conference with 21 points and two first-place votes. The Cards bring back the reigning Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year in Elizabeth Hales and Holly Deckert.

UVa-Wise was picked to finish third with 17 points and collected the remaining first-place vote. West Virginia Wesleyan was fourth (11 points), followed by Notre Dame (10) and the University of Charleston (8).
 
 

2017 MEC Preseason Poll
1.	Shepherd (3)	23
2.	Wheeling Jesuit (2)	21
3.	UVa-Wise (1)	17
4.	West Virginia Wesleyan	11
5	Notre Dame	10
6.	University of Charleston	8