Bridgewater, N.J. – The Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team has been picked to finish third in the NEC Preseason Coaches Poll, as voted upon by the league's eight head coaches and announced by the conference office on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Robert Morris University, the defending tournament champion and co-regular season champion, claimed the top spot in the poll for the second straight year after receiving six of the eight first-place votes. The Colonials are coming off a 11-6 season, including a 6-1 mark in conference play.
 
LIU claimed the other two first-place votes and finished in second place in the poll. The Sharks went 9-5 in 2025, including 4-3 in NEC play and earned the third seed in the conference championship.

After the Dolphins in the poll for the second straight year is the University of Detroit Mercy, this year in fourth place. The Titans are coming off a 6-7 campaign, including a mark of 4-3 in their first year as associate members of the conference, and a berth in the NEC championship game following an upset of the Dolphins in the NEC semifinals.
 
VMI landed fifth in the poll after finishing in a three-way tie for third place last year with a 4-3 league record as part of a 10-4 overall record.

Cleveland State University finished sixth in the poll after going 2-5 in its first year as an associate member of the conference, while finishing 4-10 overall.
 
Mercyhurst University placed seventh in the poll after going 2-11 in its first season at the Division I level, including 1-6 in NEC action.
 
Wagner College rounds out the poll after going 1-13 last year, including 1-6 in league play.
 
The four-team NEC Championship is slated for April 30 and May 2 and all three games will be hosted by the top seed. Should Le Moyne or Mercyhurst win the NEC Tournament championship, the tournament runner-up will advance to the NCAA Tournament as the NEC's automatic qualifier as per current policy, while if Le Moyne and Mercyhurst both reach the championship game, the NEC will stage an "AQ Qualifier" game between the two non-advancing semifinal teams. This will serve as a decisive game to determine the team that will secure the NEC's spot in the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Dolphins, under 29th-year head coach Dan Sheehan, return 35 letterwinners from last year's 9-6 squad, which earned the top seed in the NEC tournament, including eight who started at least one game, while adding a graduate transfer, two sophomore transfers and 16 freshmen. The Dolphins open the season on Saturday, February 7 against Queens University of Charlotte at Johns Hopkins University's Homewood Field at 12:00 p.m. and open their NEC schedule against VMI on Saturday, March 14 at 2:00 p.m.
 
2026 Northeast Conference Men's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Robert Morris (6)
2. LIU (2)
3. Le Moyne
4. Detroit Mercy
5. VMI
6. Cleveland State
7. Mercyhurst
8. Wagner
First place votes in parentheses