KEENE, N.H. – The 2026 Little East Conference preseason coaches' polls have recently been announced for men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, baseball, and softball.

Baseball

Fresh off winning the Little East regular season and tournament championships last season thanks to a 17-2 season-ending run, the Owls were picked a close second in the preseason poll with 54 points and three first place votes.  Eastern Connecticut State University, who the Owls beat 2-1 in the championship game last year while going 4-0 in the playoffs, was chosen as the favorite with 59 points and three first place nods, while the University of Southern Maine came in third with 49 points and two first place votes and the University of Massachusetts-Boston in fourth with 47 points and the final first place vote.  KSC will have to navigate the loss of junior 2025 All-American Tommy Ahlers, high-leverage reliever Liam Conley, and team leader Shea Zina, but returns the vast majority of the team that went 17-2 after an 8-13 start to surge to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2012.  Seniors Jonathan Chatfield, Evan Cali, Evan McCue, Jake Jachym, Otis Follet, and David Floyd all return and figure to help lead KSC, who has 22 upperclassmen on this year's roster (16 seniors, six juniors) and a strong sophomore class that is likely to see more opportunities.  The Owls open the season in late February at Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C. and will venture far and wide this season, including trips to California and Pennsylvania within the first three weeks of the season.  KSC's home opener is slated for March 28 against the University of Massachusetts-Boston.  The Owls will host 11 of their final 16 games at the Owl Athletic Complex beginning on April 8.
 
Men's Lacrosse
 
The Keene State College men's lacrosse team was selected to finish fifth in the LEC for the 2026 season. KSC finished with 40 points in the preseason poll, while Western Connecticut State University finished in first with 60 points and four first place votes, with the University of Massachusetts-Boston finishing in a close second with 59 points and three first place votes. KSC will be without Rex Maccarini, who led the attack with 79 points (38 goals, 41 assists) last season, but return seniors Jack Ansart (38 points from 35 goals and three assists), and Dylan Seymour (29 points from 20 goals and nine assists) to lead the scoring on the attack. The Owls return key pieces on the defense, including senior Dylan Fadale and junior Ty Cougler, who is coming off a sophomore season where he set the career record for caused turnovers, with 47, while also just 13 caused turnovers from setting the new KSC program record for most in a career.
 
Women's Lacrosse
 
The KSC women's lacrosse team was also placed to finish fifth in the LEC preseason polls for the 2026 season. KSC received 37 points in the poll, while WCSU led the polls with 60 points and six first place votes, while second through fourth were separated by two points, with the University of Southern Maine placing second with 52 points, Eastern Connecticut State in third with 51 points, and Plymouth State University in fourth with 50 points. Despite losing two Owls on the attack who reached 100 career points in Lola Smith and Chase Gengras, the Owls return three of their top five point leaders on offense. Tess Brown returns for her senior season after leading the Owls with 70 points from 51 goals and 19 assists in her junior season as she climbed up the record books, with KSC program career records for ground balls, draw controls, caused turnovers, and free position goals all easily within reach for her senior season. Lola Varricchione (48 points from 33 goals and 15 assists) and Anna Maccarini (31 points from 24 goals and seven assists) both return to helo lead the Owls on the attack after great freshman seasons for the Owls. On defense, the Owls return three starters that started all 18 games last season in Payton Guntulis, Riley Devine, and Brianna Hodgman, while Mabelle Bessette returns for her third season starting in goal for the Owls. The Owls return four All-LEC selections from the 2025 season as Brown was named to the First Team All-LEC and Devine, Varricchione, and Bessette were all named to the Second Team All-LEC.

Softball

Second-year head coach Haley Chandler and the Owls will look to build on their experiences from year one, which included an 8-4 start and six wins in Florida, where they will also open this season.  The Owls were picked eighth in the preseason poll with 18 points, 11 behind sixth-place Western Connecticut (29 points).  Eastern Connecticut was selected as the preseason favorite (64 points, eight first place votes), followed by UMass-Boston (50 points, one first place vote) in second.  KSC finished 5-11 in the league last season, dropping four games by one or two runs, and will look to improve with returners Kalle Halvorsen (.320 average last season) and Elyse Picard (.299 average) leading the way offensively.  Olivia Souers, Shea Webb, and Megan Strzegowski will look to continue to develop in the circle.  Chandler's first recruting class of eight first years will look to bolster the roster, including Swanzey native and Monadnock High School alum Cainen Avery.  The Owls open their home schedule April 4 when they host Vermont State University Castleton at 12:00 p.m.