IRVING, Texas – Defending champion James Madison has been unanimously selected as the preseason favorite in the 2026 American Conference preseason coaches’ poll.
JMU’s Reese Cuviello was selected as the league’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, while teammate Olivia Mathews and South Florida’s Sofia Chepenik were picked as the Preseason Attack Players of the Year. The East Carolina duo of Kayla Wilkes and Jaime Behar were tabbed Preseason Midfielder and Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively.
The Dukes, ranked No. 20 in the USA Lacrosse Preseason Top 20, received all six possible first-place votes from the head coaches to earn 36 points in the poll to be selected first. South Florida, which was the runner-up to JMU in the 2025 American Championship, was second with 29 points, just ahead of third-place East Carolina, which amassed 27 points and the lone remaining first-place vote. Vanderbilt was fourth with 22 points, followed by Temple (16), Charlotte (11) and Old Dominion (6).
Cuviello won 42 draw controls in 19 games in 2025, while also collecting 22 ground balls and causing 20 turnovers for the Dukes. Matthews scored 31 goals and provided 13 assists for 44 points while also securing 33 draw controls.
Chepenik scored 52 goals in the inaugural season for the Bulls. In addition, she assisted on 14 goals and won 38 draw controls.
Wilkes tallied 38 goals and 11 assists for 49 points and collected 60 draw controls, while Behar had a save percentage of 42.4 percent and a goals against average of 16.65 in net for the Pirates.
The 2026 women’s lacrosse season begins Friday, February 6, while conference play commences on Saturday, March 14. Each team in the American will play six conference games, facing the other six teams in the conference in a single-round-robin scheduling format.
The 2026 American Conference Women’s Lacrosse Championship is scheduled for April 30 and May 2 at the Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex in Nashville, Tennessee.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams or players in the preseason poll and honors.
2026 American Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll
| 1 |
James Madison (6) |
36 |
| 2 |
South Florida |
29 |
| 3 |
East Carolina (1) |
27 |
| 4 |
Vanderbilt |
22 |
| 5 |
Temple |
16 |
| 6 |
Charlotte |
11 |
| 7 |
Old Dominion |
6 |
First-place votes in parenthesis
Preseason Attack Players of the Year
Olivia Matthews, James Madison
Sofia Chepenik, South Florida
Preseason Midfielder of the Year
Kayla Wilkes, East Carolina
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Reese Cuviello, James Madison
Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year
Jaime Behar, East Carolina
Preseason All-Conference Team
Isa Torres, A, Charlotte*
Jaime Behar, G, East Carolina
Rachel Chessock, A, East Carolina
Emma Magazu, D, East Carolina*
Kayla Wilkes, M, East Carolina*
Ava Bleckley, D, James Madison*
Reese Cuviello, D, James Madison
Olivia Matthews, A, James Madison*
Payton Root, A, James Madison
Brynn Bowen, G, Old Dominion
Sofia Chepenik, A, South Florida*
Kali Cleary, M, South Florida
Kaitlyn Tartaglione, M, South Florida*
Kat Bielinski, D, Temple
Sabrina Martin, M, Temple*
Amelia Wright, A, Temple
Brooke Baker, M, Vanderbilt*
Alex Gladding, D, Vanderbilt*
Nancy Halleron, A, Vanderbilt*
* denotes unanimous selection