The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association released its 2019-20 Men's Preseason Coaches Poll on Wednesday and Lake Forest College was picked to finish sixth in the standings.
Voting is done by the NCHA head coaches. Each coach votes for the other 10 teams in the league in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (10 points for first, 9 for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
The Foresters finished with 63 points in the poll, just one fewer than fifth-place Aurora University and two behind Milwaukee School of Engineering in fourth.
Lake Forest returns 9 of the 12 players who reached double figures in points last season, including Joe Sardina, who tied for the team lead with 20 points on 10 goals and 10 assists, and NCHA All-Freshman Team selection Josh Giacomin. The 2018-19 Foresters were 12-10-6 overall and finished in second place in the NCHA South Division standings with a 9-5-4 mark in conference play.
Sixth-year head coach Patrick Kelliher and the Foresters will officially open the 2019-20 season at Saint Mary's University on Friday, November 1. The team will begin its 20-game league schedule a week later at St. Norbert College, a quarterfinalist in the 2019 NCAA Division III Tournament. The regular season will conclude on February 15 and the top four teams in each division will qualify for the Harris Cup Playoffs.
The Foresters have reached their league's postseason tournament in 21 of the last 22 seasons and reached the semifinals last year.
| PLACE | TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
| 1 | St. Norbert College (9) [N] | 99 |
| 2 | Adrian College (2) [S] | 91 |
| 3 | Marian University [N] | 76 |
| 4 | Milwaukee School of Engineering [S] | 65 |
| 5 | Aurora University [S] | 64 |
| 6 | Lake Forest College [S] | 63 |
| 7 | College of St. Scholastica [N] | 50 |
| 8 | Concordia University Wisconsin [S] | 33 |
| 9 | Trine University [S] | 25 |
| 10 | Finlandia University [N] | 24 |
| 11 | Lawrence University [N] | 15 |
[S] or [N] denotes South or North Division
