DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) released the 2026 preseason coaches' poll on Thursday afternoon. The league's coaches voted the University of Dubuque men's lacrosse team to finish fourth in the NACC this season.
After an 11-7, 9-2 season for the Spartans in 2025 and a second place regular season finish in the NACC, the 2026 season will look a little bit different.
First-year head coach
Tyler Thomas will take over as the fourth head coach in program history. Thomas was most recently at Albion College as an assistant coach for three seasons. Thomas knows the University of Dubuque well as he was the graduate assistant coach in the 2021 and 2022 seasons for the Spartans that featured the only conference title and NCAA Tournament appearance in program history in 2022.
On offense the Spartans do lose their top three scorers, but return a handful of double-digit point scorers from 2025. Fifth-year senior
Peter Schiess will be the leading return attacker for the Spartans after recording 24 goals and 11 assists. Second-year attacker
Cambell Smith had a productive first season with the Spartans, scoring 20 goals and added seven assists. Junior attacker
Andrew Beaudoin was another double-digit point scorer last season with 12 goals and eight assists.
Other key returners that will be making an impact this season are midfielders
Nolan Dimitri,
Tyler Johnson,
Nate Richardson,
Ethan Smith, and
Eric Brostek. Smith and Brostek led the Spartans in defensive ground balls with 74 and 49 respectively. At the face off circle, senior
John Lewis will be the lead face off specialist. Lewis won 202 face offs in 353 attempts last season and had 100 ground balls
Nolan Nagy returns for his senior season in goal and is a big piece experienced piece that returns for the Spartans. Last season Nagy played in 17 games and recorded 173 saves on 573 shots faced. He held a 10-7 record in 2025.
The Spartans open their season tomorrow night at home against Southwestern University at 5:30 p.m. from Oyen Field. The Spartans will face the Pirates for the first time in program history. The Spartans will then go on the road for the next three games at Carthage (Feb. 22), at North Central, IL (Feb. 28), and their first NACC game on the road at Lawrence University (March 7). The Spartans will then play their final two non-conference games at home against Albion College (March 11) and Carroll University (March 14). The Spartans will then play 10 NACC games throughout the rest of the regular season and will play NACC games at Oyen Field against Benedictine University (March 25), MSOE for senior day (March 28), Edgewood University (April 8), Lake Forest College (April 11), and the final game of the regular season against Cornell College (April 22).
The NACC tournament will begin on Saturday, April 25 for the first round. The semifinals will take place on Wednesday, April 29, and the NACC Championship will be held on Saturday, May 2. All games will be held at the higher seed's home field.
For more information regarding the University of Dubuque men's lacrosse team please visit
https://udspartans.com/sports/mens-lacrosse for more on rosters, schedules, and the latest news.
NACC Men's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll
| 1 |
Aurora University |
288 |
(24 first place votes) |
| 2 |
Concordia University (WI) |
246 |
|
| 3 |
Lake Forest College |
241 |
|
| 4 |
University of Dubuque |
210 |
|
| 5 |
MSOE |
186 |
|
| 6 |
Illinois Institute of Technology |
173 |
|
| 7 |
Benedictine University |
162 |
|
| 8 |
Edgewood University |
111 |
|
| 9 |
Lawrence University |
101 |
|
| 10 |
Cornell College |
72 |
|
| 11 |
Beloit College |
48 |
|
| 12 |
Marian University |
34 |
|
