Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Westminster is the preseason men’s lacrosse favorite, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) announced Thursday in its preseason poll announcement. The RMAC men’s lacrosse preseason poll is voted on by the league’s four head coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their own program.
 
The Griffins claim the top spot with nine points and a trio of first-place votes after capturing the 2021 RMAC Tournament championship. Westminster returns three first team all-conference selections from last season in Andoni Odencrantz, Spencer Whinery and Quinn Lewis. Andoni enters his senior year as a midfielder for the Griffins after leading the RMAC with 2.0 assists per game during the 2021 season. As a squad, Westminster’s defense was prominent and finished the year ranked fourth in the nation for clearing percentage (.894).
 
Colorado Mesa occupies the second-place spot with seven points and the league’s final first-place vote. The Mavericks will use their pace to employ a high-powered offense that was crucial in earning the 2021 RMAC regular-season title. CMU is brimming with talent once again as it returns reigning RMAC Attacker of the Year Hunter Holcomb, RMAC Midfielder of the Year James Steinke and RMAC Freshman of the Year Dylan Checketts. Head coach Vince Smith will certainly have his squad in prime condition to start the season after a perfect 5-0 finish in conference play during the 2021 campaign. The Mavs ranked fifth in the nation for scoring margin last season and overpowered opponents by an average of 8.73 goals per game.
 
Adams State checks in at third place in preseason voting, earning five points ahed of the 2022 campaign. The Grizzlies return a trio of all-conference selections from last year’s roster, including first-team goalie and reigning RMAC Goalie of the Year Brendan Williams and second-team honorees Kyle Butler and Brennan Grass. Butler led ASU with 13 goals last season, while Williams defended the Grizzlies’ net with a .520 save percentage and 13.25 saves per game during the 2021 campaign.
 
Colorado State University Pueblo rounds out the preseason ballot with three points in the 2022 preseason poll. The ThunderWolves aim to avenge a 2021 season where they finished with a 2-2 record in conference play after being forced to cancel a pair of conference matchups. Last year, the ThunderWolves flipped defense into offense after forcing an average of 12 turnovers per game, a mark that ranked fourth in NCAA Division II.
 
The 2022 RMAC men’s lacrosse season gets underway Wednesday, Feb. 9, with non-conference action. All four teams will have their sights set on the RMAC Tournament, which is scheduled for May 6-7 and will be hosted on the campus of the tournament’s highest remaining seed.