D-II Poll: No Doubting St. Thomas

ATLANTA – After rolling to a pair of Top 10 wins this weekend in Denver, St. Thomas is comfortably atop the first weekly edition of the New Balance MCLA Division II Coaches Poll.

The Tommies hauled in 17 of the first-place votes to sit 56 points clear of the closest competition, which is Kennesaw State.

The Owls held off Montana, which sits in third. The Grizzlies lost to St. Thomas, but hung 17 goals on Minn.-Duluth in Denver to rocket up the polls.

Dayton is at No. 4 bolstered by a first-place vote while fellow Upper Midwest Lacrosse Conference (UMLC) rival Grand Valley State is at No. 5, strengthened by a pair of first-place votes.

Rhode Island was a big mover this week, aided by two first-place votes. The Rams were slotted No. 13 in the preseason poll, but after rolling to a 3-0 record at the Battle by the Bay, sit at No. 7 in week one.

Florida Gulf Coast, another beneficiary of a 3-0 weekend in Foley, Ala., cracked the Top 10.

Utah, which has returned to the MCLA in Division II, enters the poll this week at No. 19

New Balance MCLA Division II Weekly Coaches Poll – Week 1

Also receiving votes: Coastal Carolina (43), Central Conn. State (43), Northwest Nazarene (40), Baylor (39), North Florida (38), Rice (31), San Diego (29), Sierra Nevada (29), UT-San Antonio (24), North Texas (22), Claremont (13), Saint Mary’s (12), Miami (12), Elon (9), Maine (9), Georgia Southern (9), Western Oregon (9), Air Force Academy (6), UNC-Wilmington (5), UC Irvine (3), UC Santa Cruz (3), Wyoming (2), Stonehill (2), Tulane (2), Western Washington (2), Washington-Mo. (1).