West Babylon, N.Y. - NYIT, the defending East Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Champions, have been voted as the league favorite once again in 2018 in a preseason poll voted on by the league's coaches. The coaches also voted for the Preseason Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year honor. St. Thomas Aquinas senior attacker Briele Caples (Rochester, N.Y.) and Mercy junior midfielder Ryan MacSpadyen (Toronto, Ontario) share the Offensive honor, while NYIT's Ian Prate (West Islip, N.Y.) was selected for the Defensive award.
NYIT was the prohibitive favorite in the poll, securing five of seven first place votes to finish with 46 points. The Bears, who also start at No. 8 in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division II poll, finished the 2017 season with a 14-3 record and their first ECC Championship since 2008. NYIT has reason for optimism with six All-Conference honorees and two All-Americans in Prate and Matthew Chanenchuk back in the fold.
Mercy is the poll's runner-up with 43 points and one first place vote. The Mavericks advanced to their first-ever ECC Championship final in 2017 and finished with a 12-5 record. LIU Post rounds out the top three with the final first place vote and 35 points.
Caples earns a share of the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year award after leading the ECC with 44 goals and 68 points a season ago. His assist total of 24 was among the conference leaders as well, coming in a tie for fourth. In addition, the Second Team All-Conference pick also finished in the top-10 in Division II with 4.53 points per game (7th) and 2.93 goals per game (10th).
MacSpadyen is the other half of the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year duo after helping lead the Mavericks to the ECC Championship final in 2017. He tallied 30 goals and 30 assists to finish with 60 points. His assist total was good for second in the conference and averaged out to 1.76 assists per game, good for 15th in Division II. His point total was also third in the ECC. His outstanding season earned him a spot on the ECC All-Conference First Team.
Prate takes home the Defensive Player of the Year award after earning numerous accolades for his breakout 2017 campaign. As a junior, Prate was named the USILA Division II Long Pole Midfielder of the Year and was selected to the USILA All-America First Team. In addition, he was the ECC Co-Defensive Player of the Year and an ECC All-Conference First Team selection. Among the reasons for his honors were his 69 ground balls and 32 caused turnovers. His caused turnover mark was second in the ECC while his ground ball total was third. His caused turnover per game total of 1.88 was also among the national leaders, coming in at No. 14 in Division II.
2018 ECC Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll
| School | Pts. | Last Year's Record |
| 1. NYIT (5) | 46 | 14-3 (8-0 ECC) |
| 2. Mercy (1) | 43 | 12-5 (7-1 ECC) |
| 3. LIU Post (1) | 35 | 8-8 (5-3 ECC) |
| 4. Molloy | 25 | 9-5 (4-4 ECC) |
| 5. Dist. Columbia | 20 | 5-7 (3-5 ECC) |
| 6. St. Thomas Aquinas | 16 | 5-10 (1-7 ECC) |
| 7. Roberts Wesleyan | 11 | 4-12 (1-7 ECC) |
() - first place votes
Co-Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Briele Caples, Sr., A, St. Thomas Aquinas
Co-Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Ryan MacSpadyen, Jr., M, Mercy
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Ian Prate, Sr., D, NYIT
