PURCHASE, N.Y. – As the countdown to opening day reaches single digits, the Manhattanville University men's lacrosse team has been slotted fourth in the 2026 Skyline Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, the conference unveiled earlier today.
The Valiants nab the No. 4 ranking for a fourth-straight year, coming off the first back-to-back postseason appearances in program history in 2025.
Manhattanville's biggest challenge for the upcoming season will be replacing the production of their two highest scorers from a season ago. The Valiants lost both Michael Swfit and
Sean Larkin (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) to graduation after the pair combined for 106 points in 2025. Focus now shifts to
Tyler Berch (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) and
Drew Palladino (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh), coming off 43 and 30 point seasons respectively, to likely pilot the Valiant attack.
Nick Corace (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) joins the pair as the only other returner with more than 10 goals last year.
On the defensive end,
Francisco Rosas (Stratford, Conn./Stratford) and
Mike Mooney (Tappan, N.Y./Tappan Zee) return after the former appeared in all 17 games last year as a junior and the latter started all 16 contests he suited up for. The pair figure to feature prominently on the final line of defense ahead of goalie
Joe Ulzheimer (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford), who started all 17 games in net as a junior last year with 201 saves.
The Valiants open the season on the road Saturday, Feb. 21, at the University of Saint Joseph at 2 p.m. ahead of their scheduled home opener on a week later on the 28
th versus FDU-Florham at 1 p.m.
USMMA ranked first in the preseason poll with 46 total points, nabbing five of the eight available first place votes. The other three were awarded to the defending champs of Farmingdale, who received 44 total points.
The full preseason poll is available below:
2026 Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll
Rank, School, Pts., (First-Place Votes)
- Merchant Marine, 46 (5)
- Farmingdale, 44 (3)
- Maritime, 39
- Manhattanville, 31
- Mount Saint Vincent, 23
- Mount Saint Mary, 20
- Saint Joseph's Long Island, 13
- Purchase, 8
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