ORLANDO, Fla. - The 2026 Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Women's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll was released earlier this afternoon, with the Embry-Riddle women's lacrosse team picked to finish in third place. Coaches cannot vote for their own teams, and points are then calculated (7-6-5-4-3-2-1, with first-place votes in parentheses).
Tampa, the 2025 national champions, received the maximum seven first-place votes, while Florida Southern earned the only other first-place vote. The Eagles, who were regular-season co-champions alongside the Spartans and Mocs a year ago, finished just behind those two programs in the poll.
Head Coach, Christina Nikolai, the reigning SSC Coach of the Year, guided the Blue and Gold to their most successful season in program history in 2025. Embry-Riddle earned its first-ever conference tournament victory, qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time, and recorded a first-round NCAA Tournament win over Mount Olive. ERAU concluded the season with a 17-4 overall record and a 6-1 mark in conference play, finishing as the only team in the nation to defeat Tampa.
About to begin her 2nd season as head coach, Nikolai is returning four of her top five leading goalscorers. Eliana Enners, who led the team with 59 goals, was chosen as a First Team All-SSC midifelder and also earned IWLCA Second Team All-American recognition last season. Along with Enners, the Eagles have got a handful of All-Conference players returning, including Callison Foreman, Ava Rogala, Caitlin Gavin, Emily Silliman, and Ella-Rae Cox.
Foreman, who is about to enter her fifth season with Embry-Riddle, will remain a key part of the attack, after scoring 44 goals and providing another 20 assists last season. Gavin, who holds the school record for most caused turnovers in a season (53), will be back in the midfield. In the crease, Cox will look to build upon her 18-3 career record, after making 117 saves last season, giving up less than 11 goals per game.
The Eagles 2026 season will get started when they host Alabama-Huntsville on February 7 at 12 p.m in their Salute to Service game. Embry-Riddle's SSC campaign begins on March 25 when they host #19 Rollins. The full slate of games for the 2026 women's lacrosse season can be found here.
2026 SSC WOMEN'S LACROSSE PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
| Rank |
School |
Total (FPV) |
| 1 |
Tampa |
49 (7) |
| 2 |
Florida Southern |
43 (1) |
| 3 |
Embry-Riddle |
35 |
| 4 |
Saint Leo |
30 |
| 5 |
Lynn |
28 |
| 6 |
Florida Tech |
17 |
| 7 |
Rollins |
15 |
| 8 |
Palm Beach Atlantic |
7 |
