(from nchahockey.org)
Lake Forest College has been picked by league coaches to place first in the upcoming Northern Collegiate Hockey Association regular season, according to the results of the coaches' preseason poll announced today by the league office.
The Foresters, led by junior two-time All-American and 2013-14 NCHA Player of the Year Michelle Greeneway, will look to build on the momentum of the regular-season and Slaats Cup championships they won a year ago. Lake Forest went 17-6-3 to earn its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament, finishing eighth in the final USCHO.com and D3hockey.com polls. Junior Alex Stensland, also an All-American a year ago, is back to lead the defense.
St. Scholastica went 15-8-3 last season and returns a trio of players who were named to the NCHA all-conference squad. Nina Waidacher paced the Saints with 22 goals and added 14 assists, despite playing in just 16 games due to her participation for Team Switzerland in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. She'll be joined by Alex Blair on defense and Lindsay Hartfiel in goal (2.30 GAA and .926 save percentage).
Adrian, which went 19-7-1 overall last season, finished third with 26 points and has Kelsey Kusch set to return for her senior season. Kusch, one of the most prolific scorers in the NCAA, finished last season with a 1.74 point-per-game average that led the country. She also tallied a nation-best 47 points, netting 22 goals while adding 25 assists.
St. Norbert was hit harder than most by graduation last season, as three of its four all-league honorees (G Kaley Gibson, F Zoe Kurth, D Laurel Hill) have all earned their degrees. The Green Knights placed fourth in the poll with 22 points after posting a 19-7-2 ledger a season ago.
Concordia University Wisconsin (15 points, 8-16-2 last season) was fifth, Marian University (12 points, 5-20-1) was sixth and Finlandia University (6, 1-21-0) rounded out the poll.
| Place | Team (First Place Votes) | Points |
| 1 | Lake Forest College (4) | 34 |
| 2 | College of St. Scholastica (3) | 32 |
| 3 | Adrian College | 26 |
| 4 | St. Norbert College | 22 |
| 5 | Concordia University Wisconsin |
15 |
| 6 | Marian University | 12 |
| 7 | Finlandia University | 6 |
