MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict Lacrosse team, which begins its inaugural season this spring, has been picked to finish seventh in the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference, according to a poll released today by the league office.
 
Lake Forest College has been selected to win the 2023 Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference (MWLC) championship according to the preseason poll, voted on by the league's head coaches. The Foresters received seven first-place votes and 49 total points in the preseason poll. Lake Forest won the regular season title last season.  Hamline was picked to finish second with 39 points and earned one first-place vote. The Pipers have won the past five conference tournament championships, which is a league record. Northwestern was third in the poll with 36 points, Cornell was fourth with 34 points, Wartburg was fifth with 24 points, Augsburg was sixth with 23 points, Saint Benedict was seventh with 13 points, and Monmouth rounded out the poll with 10 points.
 
Saint Ben's will be directed by Patrick Crandall, one of the top high school and club lacrosse coaches in Minnesota, who was officially named the head coach on Dec. 27, 2021. The Bennies first-ever match will be at UW-River Falls on March 20. CSB hosts its first ever home match on April 12.
 
Since 2011, Crandall served as the head girls lacrosse coach at Lakeville South High School, where he led the team to one Minnesota state championship title, two Minnesota state runner-up finishes and two Minnesota state consolation championships.  
 
In 2015, Crandall was selected as the Minnesota Coaches Association Coach of the Year. He has coached a Ms. Lacrosse Minnesota honoree as well as numerous student-athletes that have gone on to compete at the NCAA Division I, II and III levels.  Crandall is the first head coach in Saint Benedict Lacrosse history after the College announced the addition of the program on October 13, 2021.

In the fall of 2021, Bennies were accepted for membership into the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference (MWLC) where they became the eighth league member joining Minnesota schools Augsburg, Hamline and Northwestern, Iowa schools Cornell and Wartburg, and Illinois schools Lake Forest and Monmouth. The MWLC was formed in 2010 and began play in the spring of 2011. The Bennie Lacrosse team will practice and play on the turf field at the Outdoor Athletic Complex, and will have a locker room in the Sister Lois Wedl Athletic Center.  
 
The MWLC's regular-season standings determine the teams that qualify for the four-team conference tournament, while the tournament champion receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
2023 MWLC Preseason Poll
1. Lake Forest (7), 49 points
2. Hamline (1), 39 points
3. Northwestern, 36 points
4. Cornell, 34 points
5. Wartburg, 24 points
6. Augsburg, 23 points
7. Saint Benedict, 13 points
8. Monmouth, 10 points