The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association released its 2021-22 Women's Preseason Coaches Poll on Friday and Lake Forest College was tied-for-third in the rankings.
Voting is done by the NCHA head coaches. Each coach votes for the other eight teams in the league in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (eight points for first, seven for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
The Foresters finished with 48 points in the poll, tied with St. Norbert College for third place behind Adrian College (64) and Aurora University (50). Lake Forest received one first-place vote while the rest went to Adrian.
The Foresters return 18 players from last year's abbreviated season, including those who accounted for 62.5 percent of the team's points. Fourteen players were also on the squad for the last full season in 2019-20, when Lake Forest finished second in the conference standings with a 12-3-1 league record.
The 2021-22 Foresters will play their first game under fourth year head coach Jennifer Wilson against the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on Saturday, October 30. The team will begin its 16-game league schedule at Aurora University on November 20. The regular season will conclude on February 19 and the top six teams in the conference will qualify for the Slaats Cup Playoffs.
| PLACE | TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
| 1 | Adrian College (8) | 64 |
| 2 | Aurora University | 50 |
| 3t | Lake Forest College | 48 |
| 3t | St. Norbert College | 48 |
| 5 | Concordia University Wisconsin | 42 |
| 6 | Trine University | 26 |
| 7 | Marian University | 24 |
| 8 | Lawrence University | 13 |
| 9 | Finlandia University | 12 |