COLONIA, N.J. – The defending ECC Women’s Soccer Regular Season Champions Mercy, has been voted as the top choice in the 2026 Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's eight head coaches. Moreover, the Mavericks duo of junior forward Hailey Metzger and senior captain Sarah Lill Hanks were named Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, respectively.
 
Mercy was the clear favorite in the poll, receiving 62 points and six out of eight first place votes, to lead the conference. The Mavericks are coming off of a 14-4-3 (5-0-2 ECC) 2025 season, winning the program’s fourth ECC Regular Season Championship, their first since 2022, while also earning their most wins in a season since 2022. Mercy was the top scoring unit in the ECC last season, leading the conference with 126 total points after netting 45 goals (1^st in ECC), 36 assists (2^nd in ECC), and having a goal differential of +26 (tied for 1^st in ECC). The Mavericks finished as the 2025 runners-up and are three-time ECC Champions, having won titles in 2014, 2017, and most recently in 2022. On the national stage, Mercy advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament last season, doing so for the first time since 2022, and concluded the season receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll. Mercy enters 2026 ranked No. 25 nationally in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll, being the lone school from the ECC ranked in the Top 25 and marking the first Top 25 preseason ranking for the Mavericks since 2018.
 
Checking in at the number two spot in the ECC preseason poll was Molloy with 52 points and one first place vote. The Lions were not defeated during the 2025 ECC regular season, going 4-0-3, finishing the season as the No. 2 seed. Overall, Molloy compiled an 11-3-4 record that included an unbeaten stretch (11-0-4) over a two-month span from September 6 through November 9, eventually falling to ECC Champs, Roberts Wesleyan, 2-1 in overtime of the semifinal round. Defensively, the Lions surrendered just four goals against ECC opponents in the regular season and 14 overall on the campaign, while recording a goals-against average of 0.785, leading the conference in all three categories. On the offensive side of the pitch, the Lions ranked first in the ECC in scoring offense (2.22 goals per game), points per game (6.17) and tied for first place in goal differential (+26). Molloy leads all current ECC member institutions with four total ECC Championships, winning a pair of back-to-back trophies in 2019 and 2021, then following that up with consecutive crowns in 2023 and 2024.
 
Daemen was voted third in the ECC preseason poll with 45 points. The Wildcats posted an 11-6-1 record last season, including a 4-2-1 ECC mark. Daemen defeated Queens 2-1 in the first round of the ECC Championship before losing to Mercy in the semifinals. The Wildcats reached the ECC Championship final in consecutive years in 2023 and 2024 but is still in search of their first ECC title. In 2025, Daemen was the league leader in total assists (37), assists average (2.06), save percentage (0.886), and saves per game (9.50).
 
Rounding out the poll were Roberts Wesleyan (40), Queens with the final first place vote and 37 points, D’Youville (27), St. Thomas Aquinas (14), and Staten Island (11).

Metzger is the top returning playmaker in the ECC after guiding Mercy’s top scoring offense in 2025. The Levittown, N.Y. native played in all 21 games for the Mavericks last season, finishing with nine goals, 12 assists, and 30 points. Metzger led the ECC and ranked in the country’s top 10 in total assists (5^th NCAA), assister per game (6^th NCAA), and shot accuracy (9^th NCAA). Her 30 points ranked third in the ECC, while her nine goals and 1.43 points per game were both the fourth-best marks in the ECC, and her goals per game average ranked fifth. Metzger also scored three game-winning goals last season which was tied for third on the ECC leaderboard. She capped off her stellar sophomore season with United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-Region, D2CCA Second Team All-Region and Second Team All-ECC honors.
 
Hanks was the defensive anchor for Mercy during her first season as a Maverick in 2025. Hailing from Skedsmokorset, Norway, Hanks quickly ascended as the best defensive player in ECC, being named ECC Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-ECC, and ECC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Women's Soccer. She was also named to the United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-Region and D2CCA First Team All-Region. Hanks started all 21 games, leading the team in minutes played with 1,892 while leading a defense that ranked second in the ECC in goals against average. She also contributed offensively for Mercy, dishing out three assists, while registering nine shots, with four on goal.


2026 ECC Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll
1. Mercy - 62 points (6 first-place votes)
2. Molloy - 52 points (1 first-place vote)
3. Daemen - 45 points
4. Roberts Wesleyan - 40 points
5. Queens - 37 points (1 first-place vote)
6. D'Youville - 27 points
7. St. Thomas Aquinas - 14 points
8. Staten Island - 11 points
 
Offensive Player of the Year
Hailey Metzger - Mercy
 
Defensive Player of the Year
Sarah Lill Hanks - Mercy
 
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Founded as the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference in 1989 and rechristened the East Coast Conference in July 2006, the ECC was formed to enhance intercollegiate athletic competition among member institutions and to assist them in integrating athletics into their academic program in a fiscally sound way. The ECC is committed to the highest standards of scholarship, sportsmanship, teamwork, and citizenship. Its mission is to promote the total person concept in its student-athletes, which stresses the abilities to excel in academic achievement, athletic competition, and positive character traits. East Coast Conference members include: Daemen University (Amherst, N.Y.); University of the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.); D'Youville University (Buffalo, N.Y.); Mercy University (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.); Molloy University (Rockville Centre, N.Y.); Queens College (Flushing, N.Y.); Roberts Wesleyan University (Rochester, N.Y.); College of Staten Island (Staten Island, N.Y.); and St. Thomas Aquinas College (Sparkill, N.Y.). The ECC also is home to 13 associate members in the sports of women’s bowling (3), men’s and women’s indoor track & field (3), men's volleyball (2), field hockey (1), and men’s lacrosse (1).

The ECC sponsors the following championship sports: baseball; men’s and women’s basketball; women's bowling; men’s and women’s cross country; field hockey; men’s and women’s lacrosse; men’s and women’s indoor track and field; men’s and women’s outdoor track and field; men’s and women’s soccer; softball; and men's and women’s volleyball.
 
The East Coast Conference is a proud member of the NCAA and Division II. Division II is a dynamic and engaging group of colleges, institutions and conferences of varying sizes and educational missions. Division II members encourage and support diversity; value sportsmanship, fairness and equity; and place the highest priority on the overall educational excellence of the student-athlete.