Preseason Rankings
SPARKS, Md. -- Entering the 2026 campaign with high expectations, the Christopher Newport women's lacrosse team was listed just outside of the top-20 in the
USA Lacrosse Magazine National Preseason Poll, which was announced by the publication on Friday afternoon.
The annual release features 20 nationally-ranked teams as well as a select number of additional programs that were slotted just outside of the top-20. CNU was one of five squads listed in the "Also Considered" category, alongside Chicago, Colorado College, Ithaca, and Rowan.
With the honor, the 2026 Captains are just the third team in program history to earn preseason recognition from
USA Lacrosse Magazine. Last year, CNU opened the season ranked 16th in the country, while the 2022 squad was slotted 20th in the publication's initial poll.
Christopher Newport is coming off of a 2025 campaign in which the team posted an 8-11 record while advancing to the conference championship for the fifth straight season. Along the way, the Captains climbed as high as 15th in the national rankings.
CNU returns nine players that started at least half of the games last season, including reigning All-Americans
Brookelyn Morrison and
Kate Lamendola. Meanwhile,
Faith O'Connor and
Gabby Saia joined them on the All-Region squad, while
Emilie Shoults was an All-Conference recipient as a draw control specialist.
Overall, Christopher Newport welcomes back its top-three goal-scorers from last season after Morrison, O'Connor, and
Elena Sorkin deposited at least 30 strikes apiece in 2025. Additionally, on the back end,
Hadley Chadwick comes into her senior campaign ranked third in program history with 31 career victories.
Testing themselves against some of the best teams in the country, the Captains will face four squads that earned a spot in the top-20 in this year's preseason poll. During the regular season, CNU will square off with No. 3 Salisbury, No. 11 Washington and Lee, No. 13 York (Pa.), and No. 15 Denison. The team will also face Rowan, who was in the "Also Considered" category.
Christopher Newport will open the year on February 13 with a 5 p.m. showdown against Berry at Jennings Family Stadium.
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