CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Lesley was picked for fifth place in the NECC preseason coaches poll, the league announced on Wednesday.

Southern Vermont, which went 31-3 and 8-0 in NECC play, was a unanimous selection to repeat as league champions. NECC Player of the Year Jessica Alvarez returns for the Mountaineers, which received all nine first-place votes in today's poll.

Head coach Tricia Lawler's Lynx tied for fifth in the preseason poll with Bay Path College, each receiving 39 points. The Wildcats overcame a 2-0 deficit to squeek out a 3-2 win when the teams last met in Cambridge last October.

Lesley hopes to build on a finish to the 2011 regular season that saw the team win four straight, including three in a row in league play, to finish 9-16 overall, 4-4 in the NECC. The Lynx return 2011 All-NECC Second Team honoree Danielle Johnson, as well as former All-NECC Honorable Mention selections Kate Miller and Megan Ortwein.

The team opens 2012 on September 1 in a tri-match at Eastern Nazarene that includes matches with the Lions and the Amcats of Anna Maria College.  

The results of the NECC preseason coaches poll are below:

1. Southern Vermont - 81 (9)

2. Daniel Webster - 62

3. Newbury - 61

4. Regis - 54

T-5. Lesley - 39

T-5. Bay Path - 39

7. Elms - 32

8. Mitchell - 23

9. Becker - 13