Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Sit Second in IWLCA 2011 Preseason Poll
2/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
Feb. 10, 2011
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLC) has released its 2011 preseason poll with Northwestern checking in at second. The Wildcats, last season's national runner-up, received 377 votes, including one first place vote.
Defending champion Maryland occupies the top spot, receiving 19 of the 20 first place votes, with North Carolina, Duke and Syracuse rounding out the top-five. Penn, Georgetown, Virginia, James Madison and Notre Dame round out the top-10, meaning Northwestern will face seven of the remaining nine top-10 schools during the 2011 season.
The American Lacrosse Conference has four schools among the nation's top-20 with Vanderbilt checking in at 11th, Penn State sitting 16th and Florida opening the season in 17th. Johns Hopkins was also among the schools receiving votes.
Northwestern is a little over a week from its season-opener at 10th-ranked Notre Dame on Saturday, Feb. 19. Six of the Wildcats' seven home games this season will be against schools ranked in the preseason top-20 poll, as season tickets for Wildcat lacrosse are on sale now at NUsports.com.
2011 IWLCA Preseason Poll
1. Maryland - 399 pts. (19)
2. Northwestern - 377 pts. (1)
3. North Carolina - 362 pts.
4. Duke - 328 pts.
5. Syracuse - 316 pts.
6. Pennsylvania - 281 pts.
T7. Georgetown - 274 pts.
T7. Virginia - 274 pts.
9. James Madison - 226 pts.
10. Notre Dame - 210 pts.
11. Vanderbilt - 204 pts.
12. Loyola (Md.) - 157 pts.
13. Stanford - 156 pts.
14. Dartmouth - 135 pts.
15. Towson - 131 pts.
16. Penn State - 104 pts.
17. Florida - 46 pts.
18. Boston University - 38 pts.
19. Boston College - 33 pts.
20. Hofstra - 30 pts.
Receiving votes: Albany, Denver, Johns Hopkins, Navy, Princeton, Rutgers, William & Mary
Teams in italics indicate 2011 Northwestern opponents.
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