LEXINGTON, Va. - The Old Dominion Athletic Conference released its 2026 Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll on Wednesday, and Washington and Lee collected four first-place votes and 94 points to come in second.

The Lynchburg Hornets claimed the top spot in the poll, edging the Generals by three first-place votes and three points. Randolph-Macon was voted third with 75 points, just one marker ahead of Roanoke. Hampden-Sydney rounded out the Top 5 with 70 points.

W&L produced a 17-4 record in 2025, including a perfect 10-0 mark in ODAC play, the second straight perfect season in conference play and third in the last four seasons. The team won the 2025 ODAC Tournament championship in thrilling fashion, when Elliot Cohen scored in overtime to clinch the title over Lynchburg, before the Generals concluded their season in the NCAA Round of 16.

W&L, led into the 2026 season by 2025 ODAC Coach of the Year Gene McCabe (237-109), returns four of its eight USILA All-Americans from last season plus 6-of-10 All-ODAC players.

2026 ODAC Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll

1. University of Lynchburg (7) 97 pts.
2. Washington and Lee University (4) 94 pts.
3. Randolph-Macon College 75 pts.
4. Roanoke College 74 pts.
5. Hampden-Sydney College 70 pts.
6. Shenandoah University 53 pts.
7. Bridgewater College 44 pts.
8. Virginia Wesleyan University 41 pts.
9. Guilford College 25 pts.
10. Averett University 19 pts.
11. Randolph College 13 pts.

National Polls

The Generals have received preseason national recognition as a team by appearing inside the Top 10 in each of the USA Lacrosse Magazine (6), USILA (10) and Inside Lacrosse (10) preseason polls

Defending national champion Tufts topped all three polls. Salisbury and Christopher Newport came in at No. 2 and 3, respectively, from the USILA and Inside Lacrosse, with CNU at No. 2 and SU at No. 3 in USA Lacrosse Magazine.

To view the complete rankings from all three organizations, click the following links: Inside Lacrosse | USILA | USA Lacrosse Magazine

Preseason Honors

Senior Elliot Cohen highlighted the Generals' preseason All-America picks as the USA Lacrosse Magazine Division III Preseason Specialist of the Year. Cohen also earned a First Team All-America nod from USA Lacrosse Magazine and a second team selection from the USILA. Senior James Haley also appeared on both organizations' preseason All-America teams, landing on the third team for both. Senior defensemen Jay O'Keefe and Chris Datz collected Second Team and Honorable Mention honors, respectively, from USA Lacrosse Magazine.

For more information on this year's W&L preseason All-Americans, click here to view the release.

2026 Schedule Overview

The Generals’ 2026 schedule will feature some familiar foes during the non-conference portion of the season prior to ODAC play, with four of the seven non-ODAC teams being featured on the schedule for at least the fifth consecutive season. W&L will play its seven non-conference games followed by its 10-game ODAC slate to finish the year, with seven home games and 10 away from Lexington.

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
For the fourth consecutive season, the Generals will open the season against the Spartans of York (Pa.) on Saturday, February 14, in the Keystone State. That game precedes the ninth annual Lacrosse the Nations Cup game against Christopher Newport in Newport News on February 18.

The Generals will then host Ohio Northern (2/21) and Denison (2/28) in their first home games of the season, before a rematch of their 2025 NCAA Round of 16 contest against the Gettysburg Bullets on March 7 in Pennsylvania. W&L and Ohio Northern have never met in men’s lacrosse prior to this season, but have faced off against the Big Red and Bullets in four straight campaigns.

W&L will then close out the non-conference portion of the schedule when they make their return to the Callum Robinson Mustang Classic at Stevenson University in Owings Mills, Md. The Generals will play the host Mustangs on March 13 at 8:00 p.m. before taking on RIT the following day at 5:45 p.m.

ODAC SCHEDULE
The Generals have an even split of five home ODAC games and five on the road. The return home from Stevenson to play Roanoke on March 18, followed by Guilford (3/25), Hampden-Sydney (4/4), Averett (4/8) and Randolph (4/18), with the Randolph game being the team’s Senior Day. W&L’s road contests in 2026 will consist of Virginia Wesleyan (3/21), Randolph-Macon (3/28), Bridgewater (4/1), Shenandoah (4/7) and Lynchburg (4/24) to close the season.

POSTSEASON PLAY
The ODAC Championship tournament has been updated to an eight-team field from the seven-team format a year ago. The No. 1-4 seeds will host quarterfinal games on Monday, April 27, followed by semifinal action at each of the top-two remaining seeds on Friday, May 1. The tournament title contest will take place on Sunday, May 3, at the highest remaining seed.

Key Returners

The Generals’ four preseason All-Americans in seniors Elliot Cohen, Jay O’Keefe, James Haley and Chris Datz highlight the key returning players for the 2026 season. Senior Colin Beatty and sophomore Gabe Reiter are two more returning All-ODAC performers from a season ago, with a myriad of others looking to build on strong 2025 seasons.

Cohen leads the way for the Blue and White as a 2025 USA Lacrosse Magazine First Team All-American. He had a stellar junior season in which he tallied 32 ground balls, three caused turnovers and 13 points (6g, 7a). Cohen has produced double-digit points and at least 30 ground balls in each of his three seasons so far.

A Second Team All-ODAC and USILA Honorable Mention All-American, O'Keefe stepped into a larger role in 2025, starting all 21 games on the defensive unit, and he proved to be one of the Generals' top defenders. He led the team with 31 caused turnovers and ranked second among defensemen with 46 ground balls. O’Keefe especially held things down in the ODAC Championship game when he caused seven turnovers and scooped up six ground balls.

Haley is W&L's top returning offensive player, as he produced 71 points on 50 goals and 21 assists in 2025, all of which were Top 2 on the team. The leader in all three categories among returning players, Haley also notched 47 ground balls for the second straight season and caused six turnovers, while logging three or more points in 14 of his 19 appearances last season.

Datz is another key piece to the Generals' defensive unit, packing a strong 1-2 punch with O'Keefe. Datz was also a USILA All-America Honorable Mention and First Team All-ODAC player last season after he tallied 19 caused turnovers and 60 ground balls. Datz's efforts also earned him a selection to the IMLCA All-Region 4 Second Team.

Beatty and Reiter round out the six 2025 All-ODAC players back for this season, providing support in the midfield for the Generals. Beatty recorded 22 ground balls, five caused turnovers and 10 points (7g, 3a) last season, while Reiter had the third-most ground balls (58) on the team, caused 19 turnovers (second most) and scored two goals.

Despite not receiving postseason recognition, senior Ben Irmscher, juniors Nick De Cain and Spencer Surface, and sophomore Jack Dalton all look to build on strong 2025 seasons. Irmscher (30) and Dalton (36) both recorded over 30 points last season, joining Haley as the only three returning players to reach that mark, while Surface was 1-of-4 players in 2025 to record double-digit ground balls (16) and caused turnovers (15). De Cain saw a bulk of the action between the pipes in 2025, logging 884:02 of action and notching a 10.11 goals-against average and 0.534 save percentage (171 saves).

Team Captains

Milestone Watch

Two players are on watch this season for either key career milestones or moving up career leaderboards. 

Senior James Haley enters the season well within striking distance of entering the Top 10 for career goals, assists and points. He needs just 12 more goals, 30 more assists and eight more points for each category. Haley can also become just the ninth player in program history to reach the 200-point mark with 32 more.

Junior goalie Nick De Cain is 99 saves away from tying Warren Berenis ’15 (415) for the 10th-most saves in program history. De Cain could also become just the fifth player in program history to reach the 500-save threshold for his career, but he is 184 away from that mark after a career-best 171 last season.

Head Coach Gene McCabe enters the 2026 campaign needing just nine more victories to reach 300 in his coaching career. An additional four wins on top of that would also push him to 250 wins as the head coach of the Generals. 

New Face on Staff

Ian Davies is in his first season on the W&L men's lacrosse coaching staff. Davies will serve as the defensive assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the program.

Davies joins the Generals' coaching staff after having served over 10 years in various locations as a defensive and goalie coach for club teams, as well as Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, for the 2025 season. His club coaching experience includes Austin High School in Austin, Texas, the Mesa Fresh in Philadelphia and Team Wasatch in Salt Lake City.
 
Davies was a four-year letterwinner on the Roanoke College men's lacrosse team and compiled a 38-20 record and a 9.75 goals-against average in over 3,000 minutes between the pipes. Davies was named a First Team All-American in 2018, as well as the Division III National Goalie of the Year by the USILA. For more information on the Generals' new assistant coach, click here.