Salisbury topped the 2026 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll following a vote of the league's head coaches. The Sea Gulls tallied nine points and three first-place votes to lead the rankings.

Christopher Newport finished second in the poll with seven points and one top vote.  Mary Washington ranked third, while Warren Wilson was fourth.

The 2026 season begins in February and concludes with the C2C Women's Lacrosse Championship taking place on April 29 and May 2. Teams will be seeded based on head-to-head conference results. 

Below is a brief preview of each team entering the 2026 season:

Salisbury

The Sea Gulls return six of their top seven scoring players including Audrey Harrington and Miranda Mears. At Midfield, Grace Doyle, Julianna Ott and Regan McDonnell all return along with Grace Milliron returning from injury. Abby Fleishell anchors the defense with Paige Ellis in cage after an elite eight appearance last season.

Christopher Newport

Coming off a season in which the program climbed as high as 15th in the IWLCA National Coaches Poll, Christopher Newport welcomes back a talented group of veteran standouts in 2026. Under the guidance of head coach Lisa Valentine, the Captains return eight players that started in last year's Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Championship. Among the veterans, Kate Lamendola and Brookelyn Morrison were both recognized as All-Americans in 2025, while Faith O'Connor and Gabby Saia joined them on the All-Region squad. Meanwhile, in the crease, Hadley Chadwick enters her final campaign ranked third in school history with 31 career victories after leading CNU to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances during her first three years.

Mary Washington

The Eagles open the season with great optimism, on the heels of an 11-7 campaign a season ago. Welcomed to the fold is new head coach Sarah Dalsey, after turning around the program at Linfield University. UMW brings back all-region defender Daelyn Gregory, as well as eight of the top 10 scorers from a season ago, including junior Abigail Fisher (38 points), senior Ashley Firesheets (33 points), sophomore Sadie Laughlin (23), and seniors Taylar Hackney and Kimber Konen, and junior Anna Dube (17 each). Standout junior defender Madeline Stauder also returns for 2026, as do returning goalkeepers Cece Van Blenis and Adrianna Hernandez.

Warren Wilson

Anne Ferry is in her second year as head coach of the Owls.  Sydney Weber (75 goals, six assists) and Callie Aerni (22 goals, 18 assists) lead the returners.