The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association released its 2022-23 Preseason Coaches Polls on Thursday and the Forester women were predicted to finish fourth in the standings.
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 and were one of four teams to receive at least one first place vote. Adrian College was listed first with 60 points, just ahead of St. Norbert College (54) and Aurora University (49). Aurora joined Lake Forest with one first place vote wihle St. Norbert received two and Adrian five.
Lake Forest returns 16 players from last season, including All-NCHA selections Marissa Gebauer and Hannah Turnage and NCHA All-Freshman Team honoree Sophia Chapman. The top three Foresters in points per game are back from last year when the team was 15-10-0 overall and second in the league standings at 13-3-0 in conference play.
The 2022-23 Foresters will play their first two games under fifth year head coach Jennifer Wilson against Saint Mary's University at home October 28-29. The team will begin its slate of 16 NCHA contests against Aurora University November 18-19 and the schedule includes a three-game trip to Vermont in early January. The regular season will conclude on February 19 and the top eight teams in the conference will qualify for the Slaats Cup Playoffs.
| PLACE | TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
| 1 | Adrian College (5) | 60 |
| 2 | St. Norbert College (2) | 54 |
| 3 | Aurora University (1) | 49 |
| 4 | Lake Forest College (1) | 48 |
| 5 | Concordia University Wisconsin | 36 |
| 6 | Trine University | 32 |
| 7 | Marian University | 22 |
| 8 | Finlandia University | 13 |
| 9 | Lawrence University | 10 |
