Junior goalie Ellie Hilling appears all over the NCAA and BIG EAST leader boards in several categories.

Irish Women's Lacrosse Ranked 10th In Preseason IWLCA Poll

Feb. 10, 2011

Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team that will open the 2011 season this weekend at California (Feb. 11) and Stanford (Feb. 13) has been ranked 10th in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches’ Association (IWLCA) preseason poll.

The poll puts the Irish in good company, as eight of the teams on their schedule also are ranked in the preseason poll. That list includes five-time defending national champion, Northwestern, as the Wildcats open the season ranked second in the nation. Notre Dame opens its home schedule on Feb. 19 at the Loftus Center versus Northwestern.

Joining Northwestern on the list are BIG EAST foes, Syracuse at No. 5, Georgetown at No. 8 and Loyola (Md.) at No. 12 with Rutgers receiving votes. Also on the Notre Dame schedule this spring are No. 11 Vanderbilt, No. 13 Stanford, No. 18 Boston University and No. 20 Hofstra.

The Irish are coming off an 11-7 season in 2010 that saw them tie for second in the BIG EAST with a 5-2 mark and advance to their third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, a first in the program’s 14-year history. Notre Dame was ranked 12th in the final IWLCA poll for 2010.

So far this winter the Irish also have been ranked No. 10 by U.S. Lacrosse and Inside Lacrosse magazines.

Head coach Tracy Coyne enters her 15th season guiding the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team. The Irish begin play this season at 5:00 p.m. (PT) at California on Friday, Feb. 11 and then visit Stanford at 11:00 a.m. (PT) on Sunday, Feb. 13.

IWLCA Coaches' Preseason Poll (Preseason)
2010 record Votes (1st)
1. Maryland 22-1 399 (19)2. Northwestern 20-2 377 (1)3. North Carolina 17-3 3624. Duke 14-6 3285. Syracuse 15-7 3166. Pennsylvania 15-4 2817t. Georgetown 13-6 274 Virginia 14-6 2749. James Madison 17-3 22610. Notre Dame 11-7 21011. Vanderbilt 12-6 20412. Loyola 11-7 15713. Stanford 15-6 15614. Dartmouth 11-5 13515. Towson 13-5 13116. Penn State 10-7 10417. Florida 10-8 4618. Boston University 11-9 3819. Boston College 12-6 3320. Hofstra 12-6 30
Receiving votes: Albany, Denver, Johns Hopkins, Navy, Princeton, Rutgers,William & Mary

– ND –