Mid Coast Today

The North Atlantic Conference (NAC) released the results from the women's lacrosse coach's preseason poll earlier today and the University of Maine at Farmington was chosen to finish 4th this season.

The Beavers will be led by 1st year Head Coach Jon Hayes who takes over for Tom Sheridan. Hayes has several years of coaching experience, but this will be his 1st season at the helm of Farmington's women's lacrosse program. 

A season ago, there were eight teams in the conference, Cazenovia College no longer has a women's lacrosse program, dropping the total number of teams in the conference to seven. The Beavers finished fifth overall in the conference a year ago with a 3-10 overall record and a 3-4 record in NAC play. 

The Beavers return a strong core of players, led by reigning NAC Defensive Player of the Year Emily Stinson (Alfred, Maine) and 2nd team All-Conference recipient, Kaya Backman (South Portland, Maine). Backman returns as the Beavers top goal scorer, scoring 21 goals a season ago. Stinson finished last year with 34 ground balls and a team-high 21 caused turnovers. 

The Beavers also return goal scorers Emma Brown (Naples, Maine) and Abby Trefsger (South Portland, Maine) this season. Brown finished last season with 13 goals and four assists while Trefsger had 14 goals and three assists. Sophomore defender Riley Forrest (Portland, Maine) also returns to the back line this season for the Beavers. Forrest started in 12 of the 13 games a season ago for the Beavers tallying 20 ground balls and nine caused turnover.

Despite returning a strong core, the Beavers as a whole are a young team consisting of eight freshmen and a new starting goalie this season, Kate Nowell (York, Maine) who saw 92 minutes in net a season ago.   

The Beavers kick-off their season on the road on March 11th against Anna Maria at 2 PM. 

Original source can be found here