NDSU Atop IL’s Preseason Poll

BALTIMORE – Inside Lacrosse has released its preseason rankings for MCLA Division II and defending national champion North Dakota State has been slotted as the No. 1 squad heading into the 2019 season.

The Bison were followed by four fellow Upper Midwest Lacrosse Conference (UMLC) members to round out the top five – No. 2 Minn.-Duluth, No. 3 St. Thomas, No. 4 Grand Valley State and No. 5 St. John’s.

The UMLC was the first MCLA conference to send four representatives to a national semifinal at the 2018 MCLA National Championships powered by Under Armour in Salt Lake City.

No. 6 Montana State was the highest non-UMLC squad to be ranked by Inside Lacrosse, followed by No. 7 Florida Gulf Coast. Both teams advanced to the national quarterfinals last spring.

Up-and-coming Cal State San Marcos grabbed the No. 8 ranking followed by No. 9 Kennesaw State and No. 10 Dayton – the sixth UMLC team in the Top 10.

All 20 of these teams will be fighting to qualify for the 2019 MCLA National Championships powered by Under Armour, which will again be in Salt Lake City from May 6-11.

Inside Lacrosse also released its list of five student-athletes on its Preseason Player of the Year watch list.

Duluth’s Scott McNamara, Montana State’s Alexander Brown, Florida Gulf Coast’s Austin Cotton, Cal State Sam Arcos Alexander Cunningham and NDSU’s Noah Simpson made the final cut.

Inside Lacrosse MCLA Division II Preseason Top 20

20. San Diego
19. North Florida
18. UC San Diego
17. Central Conn. State
16. Wake Forest
15. Northern Arizona
14. UC Davis
13. College of Idaho
12. Missouri State
11. Montana
10. Dayton
9. Kennesaw State
8. Cal State San Marcos
7. Florida Gulf Coast
6. Montana State
5. St. John’s
4. Grand Valley State
3. St. Thomas
2. Minn.-Duluth
1. North Dakota State

Division II Preseason Player of the Year Candidates

Scott McNamara, Sr., Attack – Minn.-Duluth
Alexander Brown, Jr., Attack – Montana State
Austin Cotton, Sr., Goalie – Florida Gulf Coast
Alexander Cunningham, Soph., Attack – Cal State San Marcos
Noah Simpson, Sr., Attack – North Dakota State