PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – With about a month and half remaining until the start of the season, the Pace University men's lacrosse team has been ranked No. 18 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine Division II Preseason Poll.

The Setters, who went 7-7 last year, will enter their sixth season under head coach Tom Mariano in 2019. Pace appeared in their fourth-consecutive Northeast-10 Conference Championship Tournament last season, where they fell to Adelphi in a first-round contest.

Despite losing nine seniors to graduation, Pace returns a pair of NE10 All-Conference selections to the roster in Spencer DeRosa (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) and Timothy January (Peabody, MA/Peabody Veterans Memorial). The Setters also bring back five players that scored 10 or more points a season ago, including Bradley Paterson (Caldwell, NJ/Depaul Catholic) who led the Blue and Gold with a 43-point 2018.

With the NE10 continuing to be one of DII's premier lacrosse conferences, Pace joins four other conference members in the preseason rankings. Defending national champion, Merrimack, holds the top spot, while Le Moyne sits at No. 2 and Adelphi at No. 4. Saint Anselm also makes the preseason poll, slotted at No. 12.

The Setters will begin their season at home on Feb. 23, hosting Dominican College at 1 p.m.