Field Hockey: Rivier slotted eighth in annual GNAC Coaches Poll

WINTHROP, Mass. - The Rivier University Field Hockey team has been selected to finish eighth in the league according to the 2019 GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, the conference office announced Tuesday. 

Saint Joseph's College of Maine received all nine first-place votes to unanimously take the top spot in the annual poll. SJC garnered the maximum 81 points overall, ahead of second-place Lasell University, which collected 72 points. The poll voting is conducted by the conference's nine head coaches.

The 2019 campaign will mark the sixth season in which the GNAC has sponsored the sport of field hockey. Following Lasell, Colby-Sawyer College finished in third place with 57 points, just narrowly ahead of Simmons University's 56 points.

The remainder of the poll was made up by Johnson & Wales University (RI) with 46 points, Anna Maria College with 33 points, Regis College with 32 points, Rivier University with 19 points, and Albertus Magnus College with nine points. 

Mike Holloran has been elevated from assistant coach to interim Head Coach for the 2019 campaign as he enters his sixth season overall with the program. He will look to his veteran leadership to help guide the program through the transition. Returning to the Raiders' line-up are senior Jaclyn Fraser (4g, 7a) and junior Nicole Mansfield (3g, 1a), as well as sophomore Maegan Sheehy (9g, 3a).

The 2019 season will get underway on Saturday, August 31 as the Raiders travel to Gordon College for a 1 p.m. non-conference contest. The first home game inside the newly constructed Joanne Merrill Field will be a week later on Saturday, September 7 against Westfield State, also at 1 p.m.