The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) had two schools appear in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III Top-20 Pre-Season Poll and one other in the receiving vote’s category.

Cortland was picked fourth with 233 points and Geneseo entered at #13 with 89 points. Defending champion Tufts University earned the #1 ranking, while other New York State schools #9 RIT, #12 Rensselaer, #17 Nazareth and #19 St. John Fisher.

The Red Dragons finished 17-3 last spring, won their third straight SUNYAC title and advanced to the NCAA Div. III semifinals before losing 10-9 to eventual national champion Tufts University. That loss denied the Red Dragons their fifth consecutive NCAA championship game appearance; Cortland won national titles in 2006 and 2009 and finished second in 2007 and 2008. Fifth-year head coach Steve Beville’s squad will open its season at Widener College (Pa.) on Feb. 26. Cortland’s schedule features five games versus preseason top-20 teams. The Red Dragons will travel to third-ranked Stevenson (Md.), Geneseo and Nazareth, and will host RIT and will play sixth-ranked Gettysburg (Pa.) on a neutral field in Massapequa on Long Island.

Geneseo posted a 10-4 record last season and went 4-2 in the SUNYAC regular season to earn the number two seed for the conference tournament, where the Knights defeated Oneonta in the semifinals before falling to Cortland in the title game. The Knights open up their season under 11^th year head coach Jim Lyons on Wednesday, March 2 against Lycoming before traveling to Nazareth on March 5. Geneseo will also travel to RIT and St. John Fisher before hosting their first home game of the season on April 13.