FREDONIA, N.Y. - With success comes expectations. Make no mistake, a lot is expected of the 2016 Fredonia Blue Devil women's lacrosse team.

The Blue Devils are No. 15 in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association preseason poll. That lofty ranking is higher than any Blue Devil women's lacrosse team - and most likely, any team in any sport - has opened a season.

"It's only the preseason poll," said second-year head coach Amy Simon, who is fully aware that this year's team is being viewed through the lens of 2015.

The Blue Devils reached several milestones last year, including most wins in program history (17-4), a first-ever SUNYAC championship game appearance, and two wins in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a season. That resulted in a trip to the quarterfinal round, farther than any Fredonia women's lacrosse team had gone before.

Ambitious schedule

Yet that was then and this is now. The success of 2015 - or that of the past four seasons, during which Fredonia made three NCAA appearances - is a tough act to follow.

"Talent-wise, we have it," Simon said. "But can we play at a higher level with the teams that we're going to (play against)? It's not going to be easy."

The schedule is ambitious. It includes pre-season No. 1 and defending SUNYAC and national champ Cortland, No. 5 The College of New Jersey, No. 18 St. John Fisher, and No. 19 Geneseo, as well as Mount Union and Brockport, who also received IWLCA votes.

The season starts Saturday vs. TCNJ, a neutral-site game at Montclair State, at 3 p.m.. Opening weekend also includes a Sunday afternoon game against the host team.

In addition to schedule, the Blue Devils will be tasked with replacing the offense of Katie Kleine and Marissa Cussins. Kleine graduated as Fredonia's all-time leading scorer, while Cussins left as No. 3. They were selected as 2015 ILWCA Second Team All Americans, the first time two Blue Devils were chosen to the All-America team in the same season.

Graduation also claimed attacker Katie Glagolev and defender Shelby DePew. Following the season, Depew - a graduate student last season after earning a bachelor's degree in Math/Secondary Education - was named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll.

Added scoring load

In their stead, Simon will look toward Kleine's younger sister, junior midfielder Kristie Kleine (Cazenovia, N.Y./Cazenovia), sophomore midfielder Audrey Yokopovich (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas), and senior attack Katie Miller (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg), to pick up the scoring slack. Kristie Kleine was Third Team All SUNYAC in 2015 and finished second on the team with 34 goals. Yokopovich was fourth with 31 goals and was second in both groundballs and draw controls. Miller was sixth in scoring - third among the returning players.

"All three are very smart players," Simon said. "They all work extremely hard. We will be looking them to do those types of things to bring everyone else along."

Defensively, the top returnee is sophomore goalkeeper Nicole Burrows (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker). A Third Team All-SUNYAC selection as a freshman, Burrows played every minute of every game last year. Her 19 wins, by extension, is an individual single-season school record.

Three seniors, Jessica Tuttle (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas), Juliana Kotas (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster), and Lauren Metz (Williamsville, N.Y./Lancaster), bring experience to the defensive end. Also back is sophomore defender Johanna Santiago (Middletown, N.Y./Middletown).

Three freshmen, attack Monica Van Donsel (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) and midfielders Jade Williams (Tully, N.Y./Lafayette) and Samantha Spiess (Fairport, N.Y./Penfield), have stood out during pre-season drills, Simon said, yet it'll take them time to adjust to the college game, especially against so many formidable opponents.

"We have such a young team," Simon said, "but we have some players with championship experience. They've played at a high level so hopefully they can push everyone to play up to that level."