Feb. 9, 2010
CHAPEL HILL - The University of North Carolina women's lacrosse team has grabbed the No. 4 spot in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association poll, the IWLCA announced on Monday evening. The Tar Heels, who went 16-5 and reached the NCAA championship game before losing to five-time defending champ Northwestern, return 10 of 12 starters from last year's squad, including national player of the year candidate Jenn Russell, 2009 national goalkeeper of the year Logan Ripley and All-Atlantic Coast Conference performers Megan Bosica and Kristen Taylor.
The Tar Heels will open their 2010 season on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Denver at home at Fetzer Field.
The Northwestern Wildcats, the five-time reigning national champions, sit in the top spot of the IWLCA poll to open the 2010 season. The `Cats took all 20 first-place votes in the preseason poll and lead a contingent of four teams from the American Lacrosse Conference in the rankings.
Four conferences--the ALC, the ACC, the Ivy League and the Big East--each claim four schools in the poll. All four of the ACC schools rank in the top-10, starting with 2009 semifinalist No. 2 Maryland and 2009 runner-up Carolina at No. 4. Duke comes in at No. 5 and Virginia rounds out the top-10 at No. 10. The Big East has three schools in the top-10 as Syracuse, Georgetown, and Notre Dame run 6-7-8 respectively; Loyola starts the season ranked at No. 14. Two Ivy League schools sit in the top-10, starting with 2009 semifinalist Penn at No. 3 and No. 9 Princeton. Dartmouth (No. 15) and Cornell (No. 19) also appear in the preseason rankings. While reigning ALC Champion leads off the poll, conference rival Vanderbilt starts off the second-10, coming in at No. 11. Ohio State ranks No. 16 and Penn State follows at No. 18.
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The Colonial Athletic Association is the only other league with multiple schools in the ranking; reigning conference champion Towson comes in at No. 17 and William & Mary rounds out the poll at No. 20. The America East and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation each boast one school as Boston University comes in at No. 12 and Stanford follows right behind at No. 13.
