SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Roger Williams will look to return to championship form this year after having finished as the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament runner-up for the last three seasons. The Hawks will enter the 2020 campaign as the preseason favorite as determined by the 2020 CCC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
The Hawks, which have appeared in the previous six conference title games and captured the title in 2016, earned 78 points in this year's poll. Included in that total were six first place votes on the ballots cast by the nine women's lacrosse head coaches last week.
 
RWU finished last season with a 7-1 CCC record and earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. After defeating No. 7 seed Wentworth and No. 3 seed the University of New England in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, the Hawks took on Endicott for the league title for the fourth year in a row. The back and forth battle took overtime to be decided with the top-seeded Gulls taking home the prize.
 
Those three-time defending CCC Tournament Champion Gulls landed in the No. 2 spot in this year's voting. They claimed 75 points and the remaining three first place votes. Last year, Endicott completed its third straight perfect conference season, winning all eight conference games and advancing all the way through the bracket to claim the league title. In the 2019 tournament, they defeated No. 5 seed Western New England in the semifinals before the aforementioned overtime championship victory against Roger Williams.
 
In the NCAA Tournament, the Gulls battled hard, but dropped a 12-10 decision to Misericordia in the First Round.
 
Western New England and UNE, last year's CCC Semifinalists, were picked third and fourth, respectively, in this year's poll. The Golden Bears earned 58 points, while the Nor'easters captured 53. Salve Regina finished fifth in the voting with 41 points.
 
Curry (37 points) fell in the sixth spot this year with 37 points, while Gordon and Wentworth tied for seventh at 25 points apiece. Nichols rounded out this year's ledger with 13 points.
 
Last season, Roger Williams completed another stellar year, going 13-5 overall and clinching a fifth consecutive season with 12+ wins. In addition, RWU finished as the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament for the fourth straight year. In the CCC Tournament, RWU rolled through No. 7 seed Wentworth (W 19-0) and No. 3 seed University of New England (W 16-14) to face top-seeded Endicott in the CCC Championship for the fourth straight season. The Hawks fought hard but were bested 11-10 in overtime.
 
Two-time CCC Coach of the Year Jennifer Fox will look to guide the Hawks to their first CCC Championship since 2016. RWU will look to replace three seniors from last season's team, including four-time All-CCC First Team selection Emily Stoeppel. Despite the loss, the Hawks still welcome back nine starters from last year while bringing in 11 new players. RWU will also bring back senior Ashley Warren (Wilmington, Mass.), a 2019 All-CCC Second Team selection and last season's second-leading scorer.
 
The CCC women's lacrosse season gets underway on Saturday, Feb. 22 with Gordon and WNE opening the year with separate non-conference matchups. League play will begin a month later on Saturday, March 21. The top seven teams in the conference standings at the end of the year will qualify of the 2020 CCC Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament. Three quarterfinal games are scheduled for Saturday, April 25, followed by the semifinal round on Wednesday, April 29. The championship game will be played on Saturday, May 2 with the winner earning the CCC's automatic qualifier into the 2020 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament.
 
2020 CCC Women's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll
 

	Team	Points (First Place Votes)
1.	Roger Williams	78 (6)
2.	Endicott	75 (3)
3.	Western New England	58
4.	University of New England	53
5.	Salve Regina	41
6.	Curry	37
T-7.	Gordon	25
T-7.	Wentworth	25
9.	Nichols	13

 
- Release courtesy of the Commonwealth Coast Conference