The Hope College men’s lacrosse team finished fourth in the 2017 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Preseason Coaches Poll.
The Flying Dutchmen received one first-place vote and totaled 33 points.
Albion, last season’s MIAA champion, topped the poll with seven first-place votes and 49 points. Coaches could not vote for their own teams. Albion (39 points), came in second, while Trine (35) placed third.
Coach Michael Schanhals and the Flying Dutchmen return 13 letterwinners from a team that posted a 9-7 overall record and a fifth-place 3-4 mark in MIAA play last season.
Hope also brings back All-MIAA attacker Gunnar Elder of East Grand Rapids, Michigan (East Grand Rapids), the school’s all-time leading single-season and career goalscorer and assist leader.
MIAA POLL
- 1. Albion 49 points (7 first-place votes)
- 2. Alma 39
- 3. Trine 35
- 4. Hope 33 (1 first-place vote)
- 5. Olivet 26
- 6. Adrian 20
- 7. Kalamazoo 12
- 8. Calvin 10