Women's Lacrosse Ranked 7th in NIKE/USA Lacrosse Preseason Poll

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College women's lacrosse team will start the 2023 season ranked 7^th in the Nike/USA Lacrosse DII Women's Preseason Top 20 after earning the 2023 Sunshine State Conference Tournament Championship and advancing to the NCAA DII Second Round. The Moccasins will open the season on February 17 at preseason no. 20 Mount Olive in North Carolina and make their first appearance at Berend Field on February 24 against preseason no. 2 Adelphi.
 
The Mocs are one of five Sunshine State Conference teams named in the top-20, receiving the highest rank ahead of No. 9 Tampa, No. 10 Rollins, No. 14 Lynn, and No. 16 Embry-Riddle. Florida Tech sits on the cusp as one of four teams to be considered.

The 2022 Division II National Runners-Up, East Stroudsburg topped the list as the preseason no. 1, followed by Adelphi (No. 2), West Chester (No. 3), Le Moyne (No. 4), and Grand Valley State (No. 5) rounding out the top-five preseason teams. Regis (CO) was sixth ahead of Florida Southern (No. 7), the defending National Champions UIndy (No. 8), Tampa (No. 9), and Rollins (No. 10) completing the top-10. 
 
Florida Southern went 16-4 last season, which concluded with a 1-1 mark in NCAA postseason play. The Mocs went 5-2 and finished second in the league standings before knocking off regular-season champion, Tampa, 20-10 in the SSC title game in Tampa. FSC defeated then-no. 19 Wingate 19-6 in the first round but fell at the hands of then-no. 1 Queens (NC) 16-13.
 
The Moccasins, who led the SSC in goals per game at 17.9, return five of their top-six scorers with graduate student Hailey Daleo leading the group with 59 goals followed by senior Madison Tare with 50, junior Abby McFerren with 49, graduate student Lizzy Lynch with 40, and sophomore Ellie Griffin with 36. Florida Southern also led the league in points per game with 26.55 and too, return five of its top-six leaders with McFerren leading the way with 83 points. Daleo was second on the team with 82, Tare third with 72, and Lynch fourth with 68 while Griffin, who was a true freshman and started in 18 of the 20 games played, was sixth on the team in total points with 40.
 
2023 NIKE/USA LACROSSE DIVISION II WOMEN'S PRESEASON TOP 20
1. East Stroudsburg
2. Adelphi
3. West Chester
4. Le Moyne
5. Grand Valley State
6. Regis
7. Florida Southern
8. UIndy
9. Tampa
10. Rollins
11. Mercy
12. Pace
13. Seton Hill
14. Lynn
15. Wingate
16. Embry-Riddle
17. Colorado Mesa
18. Davenport
19. Mercyhurst
20. Mount Olive

Also considered (alphabetical order): Florida Tech, IUP, Millersville, Roberts Wesleyan