NEW YORK – The BIG EAST Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Coaches’ Poll was announced on Thursday with 2019 regular-season champion Denver the unanimous favorite to win the crown in 2021. The Pioneers earned all five available first-place votes and a total of 25 points to sit atop the poll. Denver senior attacker Quintin Hoch-Bullen was voted BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while teammate Molly Little, a graduate student defender, was elected BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. The preseason poll and awards are decided by a vote of the league’s head coaches who are not permitted to vote for their own team.
 
Denver was followed in the preseason poll by 2019 BIG EAST Championship winner Georgetown, which collected 21 points and the remaining first-place vote. Villanova landed in third with 15 points, while UConn was slotted fourth with 13 points. The Huskies return to BIG EAST play after competing in the AAC in 2019 and 2020. Marquette was tabbed fifth in the poll with 11 points, while Butler rounded out the list in sixth with five points.
 
The Pioneers went 16-4 overall in 2019, including a flawless 5-0 mark in BIG EAST play to claim their first regular-season title. After falling in double-overtime to Georgetown in the BIG EAST Championship title game, Denver received an at-large bid into the NCAA Championship where it made program history by advancing to its first NCAA Quarterfinal. The Pioneers had one of the top defenses in the nation in 2019, boasting the No. 2 scoring defense, allowing just 7.30 goals per game. The Pioneers also finished among the national leaders in scoring margin (10^th, 6.40) and caused turnovers per game (21^st, 10.30). Denver was off to a 7-1 start in 2020 before the season was cancelled. Through eight games, the Pioneers averaged a BIG EAST-leading 16.88 goals per game.
 
A 2020 Tewaaraton Award Watch List member, Little collected 62 draw controls and 28 caused turnovers in 2019’s BIG EAST regular-season title campaign, in which she started all 19 games in which she appeared. In an abbreviated 2020 season, Little started all eight games for the Pioneers, tallying a team-high 37 draw controls and eight caused turnovers. Through eight games in 2020, the Little-led Denver defense surrendered just 8.62 goals per game to rank 13^th nationally, while its 12.50 caused turnovers per contest listed fifth among all Division I teams.
 
The reigning BIG EAST Attacker of the Year (2019), Hoch-Bullen finished the 2019 season with 71 points, including a BIG EAST-leading 59 goals. Through eight games in 2020, the senior attacker posted 44 points off 33 goals and 11 assists. In the 2020 abbreviated season, she finished in the top 10 nationally in points (ninth, 44), points per game (10^th, 5.50), goals (fifth, 33), goals per game (10^th, 4.13) and free position goals per game (third, 1.63).
 
Little and Hoch-Bullen were two of eight unanimous picks to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, along with fellow Pioneer Eliza Radochonski. Other unanimous selections included UConn senior midfielder Sydney Watson; Georgetown graduate student trio Katie Hudson (D), Michaela Bruno (A) and Natalia Lynch (M); and Villanova graduate student attacker Katie Comerford. A total of 18 student-athletes were voted to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, with Hoch-Bullen, Little, Radochonski, Hudson and Villanova’s Liz Trojan all garnering All-BIG EAST First Team accolades in 2019.
 
BIG EAST Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. Denver           25 (5 first-place votes)
2. Georgetown  21 (1)
3. Villanova        15
4. UConn            13
5. Marquette     11
6. Butler             5
 
BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Quintin Hoch-Bullen, Denver, Sr., A*
 
BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Molly Little, Denver, Grad., D
 
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team^
Lia LaPrise, UConn, Jr., A            
Sydney Watson, UConn, Sr., M*
Bea Behrins, Denver, Sr., A        
Quintin Hoch-Bullen, Denver, Sr., A*
Hannah Liddy, Denver, Sr., A
Molly Little, Denver, Grad., D*
Caroline Weisman, Denver, Sr., M
Eliza Radochonski, Denver, Sr., A*
Katie Hudson, Georgetown, Grad., D*
Michaela Bruno, Georgetown, Grad., A*
Natalia Lynch, Georgetown, Grad., M*
Mollie Miller, Georgetown, Sr., D
Lydia Foust, Marquette, Jr., M
Jocelyn Miller, Marquette, Sr., D
Sydney Frank, Villanova, Jr., D
Alexa Moro, Villanova, Jr., GK
Liz Trojan, Villanova, Grad., A
Katie Comerford, Villanova, Grad., A*
 
*unanimous selection
^due to a tie in voting, extra players were added