LANCASTER, Pa. – After finishing as the Centennial Conference runner-up last season, the Gettysburg College men's lacrosse team was picked to finish second in the conference's preseason coaches poll, it was announced Wednesday.

The poll is voted on by the conference's nine head coaches, who could not vote for their own team. Defending conference champion Dickinson College was ranked No. 1, receiving 64 points and eight of the nine first-place votes. The Bullets earned 56 points and one first-place vote.

The Bullets tied Haverford College for second in the Centennial Conference standings last season, then defeated the Black Squirrels in the conference semifinals. In the conference championship game, Gettysburg battled Dickinson in a 6-5 loss before receiving an at-large berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament, in which it reached the second round.

During the preseason, Gettysburg has been ranked nationally by three different publications or organizations. The Bullets were pegged No. 12 by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA), No. 12 by Lacrosse Magazine, and No. 16 by Inside Lacrosse's “Facebook Yearbook.”

Gettysburg finished the 2011 season 12-7 and 6-2 in the Centennial Conference. The Bullets were ranked No. 12 in the final USILA Division III poll.

The Bullets play their season opener on Feb. 25, when they host Messiah College in a non-conference tilt at 1 p.m.

Centennial Conference Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Dickinson College (8), 64
2. Gettysburg College (1), 56
3. Haverford College, 49
4. Franklin & Marshall College, 41
5. Ursinus College, 34
6. McDaniel College, 26
7. Washington College, 24
8. Muhlenberg College, 17
9. Swarthmore College, 13

First-place votes in parentheses