Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/23/26
From Press Release
Air Force senior attackman Caelan Driggs (Salesianum School) was a Preseason All-Atlantic Sun pick.
Last year, Driggs was an All-ASUN Second Team selection and scored a school-record 60 goals, including 13 hat tricks. He posted five-goal performances in five games (Ohio State, Marist, Jacksonville, Utah, Robert Morris) and scored a goal in every game of the season. He has 97 career tallies.
The University of Utah lacrosse team has been picked as the favorite to win the 2026 Atlantic Sun title, according to the preseason coaches poll released by the league office on Thursday.
In its fifth year as a member of the ASUN Conference, Utah has yet to be picked lower than first by the league’s coaches. Utah received three first place votes and topped the poll with 33 points, two more than second-place Air Force and eight more than third-place Jacksonville.
Utah also swept the three major preseason awards voted on by the league’s coaches. Ryan Stines was unanimously named the Preseason Player of the Year, Nikko DiPonio was also a unanimous selection for Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, and Tyler Kloeckl was chosen as the conference’s Preseason Specialist of the Year. That trio, along with midfielder Cade Faulkner, nabbed four of the 13 spots on the Preseason All-ASUN Team.
Preseason Coaches Poll
Place Team (1st Place Votes) Points
1. Utah (3) 33
2. Air Force (3) 31
3. Jacksonville 25
4. Bellarmine 18
5. Mercer 11
6. Queens 8
Preseason All-ASUN Team
Name Pos. School
Ryan Stines^ A Utah
Caelan Driggs (Salesianum School) A Air Force
Jack Taylor A Air Force
Cade Faulkner M Utah
Cole Rassas M Air Force
Mana Wilhelm M Air Force
Cole Cunningham^ LS Air Force
Breydan Harrison SS Jacksonville
Nikko DiPonio^ D Utah
Aaron Toguri D Jacksonville
Christopher Reynolds D Bellarmine
Tyler Kloeckl FO Utah
Nicky West GK Queens
^ – denotes a unanimous selection
