The four-time defending champion Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Sagehens are expected to secure a fifth straight title according to the 2026 SCIAC Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll, as voted by the league’s head coaches.
With nine NCAA victories in hand over the past four years, the Sagehens are set to reload yet again with Defensive Athlete of the Year
Shelby Stanton headlining a host of returners for Coaching Staff of the Year winner
Sarah Queener. Stanton made a triumphant return from injury to lock down the conference’s top defensive unit that surrendered just 56 goals in 12 games. Three-time First Team All-SCIAC attacker
Fiona Lewis joins
Caroline Donegan, a two-time top team pick, and
River Buechner, who has made each All-Conference team over the past two years, as well as the Second Team trio of rookie
Caili Cross,
Taylor Glanville and
Izzy Sabatino.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges have remained hot on their Sixth Street rivals’ heels, nearly knocking off the favorites in one-goal games in each of those four unbeaten years.
Grace Minturn, the 2024 Offensive Athlete of the Year, will factor into that matchup prominently along with fellow two-time First Team All-SCIAC selection
Julia Ryan and another two-time All-Conference pick in
Amelia Ulmer. Ryan has been the conference’s pre-eminent draw control specialist over the past two seasons, almost tripling last year’s runner-up with 325 (19.1 per game).
The University of Redlands has doubled its conference win total each of the past two seasons, from two in 2023 to four in 2024 then eight last year for a third-place finish. Newcomer of the Year
April Bryant stormed onto the scene with 27 goals, six assists, 21 ground balls, 15 caused turnovers and 75 draw controls to complement the offensive prowess of Second Team All-SCIAC picks
Ruby Czajkowski and
Emily Webster, a three-time honoree.
Jenny Quinonez Diaz, who ranked second in the league with 1.7 caused turnovers per game, was one of just three non-Claremont Consortium players to crack the First Team last year as the Bulldogs welcome back all four selections in former assistant coach
Sean Hansen’s first season.
Three-time First Team selection
Maeve Moylan is back to terrorize opponents after leading the conference in ground balls (2.3) and caused turnovers (1.8) while also ranking second in draw controls (7.3) and fifth in points per game (3.8). Second Team picks
Evie Kim and
Olivia Okamoto, who also has three career All-Conference honors, provide a strong backbone for the Tigers. Second Team pick
Tade Scheid will look to shoulder more responsibility for Chapman University after finishing just one game out of the postseason. A trio of Second Team All-SCIAC selections return for California Lutheran University in conference saves leader
Bella Bravo, goals per game leader
Malina Diaz and
Josie Oparanaku, as well as 2024 First Team choice
Sydney Shin.
Following a few weeks of scrimmages, exhibitions and Alumni Games, the season opens in full force with early SCIAC contests between CLU and CMS on Feb. 11 and Redlands vs. Oxy on Feb. 14 with Chapman and Pomona-Pitzer joining the mix Feb. 18.
2026 SCIAC Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll
1. Pomona-Pitzer, 49 points (7 first-place votes)
2. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 42 pts
3. Redlands, 30 pts
4. Occidental, 27 pts
5. Chapman, 25 pts
6. California Lutheran, 16 pts
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