BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The Northeast Conference release the 2017 Women's Golf Preseason Coaches' Poll Tuesday afternoon, and the LIU Brooklyn women's golf team was selected to finish sixth out of seven teams.

Following last year's runner-up finish, Northeast Conference head coaches have picked Sacred Heart to win the program's first-ever NEC women's golf title this spring. The Pioneers received five first place votes in the poll. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team. 

Two-time defending NEC champion Fairleigh Dickinson was selected second, claiming the remaining two first place votes. The Knights, who bested SHU by just one stroke in the closest finish in NEC Championship history last year, have captured six of the last nine conference crowns.

LIU finished in seventh at last year's NEC Championships, paced by All-NEC honoree junior Lauren Rutherglen. The Blackbirds return four members of the team, along with the addition of three freshman, for a young squad ready to make waves in the conference.

The 2017 NEC Women's Golf Championship will be held from April 21-23 on the Jones Course at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, FL.

2017 Northeast Conference Women's Golf Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Sacred Heart (5)
2. Fairleigh Dickinson (2)
3. Wagner
4. Central Connecticut
5. Saint Francis U
6. LIU Brooklyn
7. St. Francis Brooklyn

First place votes in parentheses