2008 MPSF Preseason Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Poll
Complete Release in PDF Format 
In the 2008 MPSF women's lacrosse preseason coaches' poll, Denver came out on top with 24 points and four first-place votes. The Pioneers return last year's conference freshman of the year, Ali Flury, as well as all-conference players Karen Morton and Steph Coyne. Denver won the MPSF regular season in 2007 with a perfect 5-0 mark.
Taking second in the poll was Stanford with 20 points and one first-place vote. The Cardinal placed third during the season a year ago, though finished strong in winning the conference tournament behind MVP goalkeeper Laura Shane, who led the league in saves.
Oregon also received one first-place vote, and totaled 17 points, coming in third. The Ducks have some major scoring threats, including All-MPSF players Jen May and Ilsa Van Den Berg. Closely behind in fourth was California who ended up with 15 points, followed by UC Davis with nine and St. Mary's with five. The Bears will have Danni Zuralow returning, while the Aggies get back goalkeeper Hilary Harkins and all-time UCD scoring leader Katie McMahon. PJ Hainley and Abbie Coleman are the top scoring returnees for the Gaels.
DENVER- MPSF Freshman of the Year Ali Flury (3.79 GPG) in addition to all-conference juniors Karen Morton (3.32 GPG) and Steph Coyne (3.26 GPG) are the top returnees on offense. Junior Megan Carver was also in the top-10 in scoring in '07 (2.58 GPG). Senior Becky Childs is back in goal, owning a conference-best 8.05 goals-against average last year. The Pioneers lost two-time conference player of the year and scoring leader Kristie Leggio.
STANFORD- MPSF Tournament MVP goalkeeper Laura Shane returns after leading the conference with 11.18 saves per game in `07. Senior all-conference Daphne Patterson is back, placing 13th in scoring a year ago (2.41 GPG) as is sophomore Lauren Schmidt (1.88 GPG). Senior Megan McClain also returns as one of the top scorers from last year. The Cardinal lost all-tournament performer Liz Piselli (2.18 GPG).
OREGON- returns junior goalkeeper Anna Poponyak (9.24 GAA in '07). Also back are seniors Jen May (2.05 GPG) and Theresa Waldron (2.11 GPG) and junior Ilsa Van Den Berg who ranked 11th in MPSF scoring last year (2.47 GPG). May and Van Den Berg were all-conference selections. Brooke Dieringer is now on the sidelines as an assistant coach (2.21 GPG).
CALIFORNIA- The Bears return senior Danni Zuralow who ranked 10th in the MPSF in Scoring last year (2.50 GPG) and junior Madeleine Dale, who finished 23rd (1.94 GPG). Sophomores Alex Tickner and Alyse Kennedy return in the midfield. All-MPSF honoree Laura Cavallo (3.65 GPG), as well as Liz Reifsnyder (3.00 GPG) and All-MPSF Tournament goalkeeper Hilary Lynch (9.35 SPG) do not return.
UC DAVIS- returnees include All-MPSF senior goalkeeper Hilary Harkins (9.35 SPG/10.09 GAA), and senior Katie McGovern (2.78 GPG) and junior Patrice Clark (2.44 GPG), No. 8 and 12 respectively in conference scoring. Also returning to the Aggies from the 2006 team is All-MPSF senior Katie McMahon, the program's all-time leading scorer who finished 10th nationally in goals per game two years ago (3.29) and led the nation with 69 goals in 2005. Gone is Megan O'Conner (3.78 GPG).
SAINT MARY'S- top returnees include junior PJ Hainley (2.18 PPG) and sophomore Abbie Coleman (1.94 PPG) who each finished in the MPSF top-25 scoring last year. Junior goalkeeper Hilary Gardner collected 6.47 saves per game, ranking fourth in the conference. MPSF All-Tournament honoree Jackie Spencer is gone, 14th in the conference in scoring in `07 (2.25 PPG).