Coach Tracy Coyne begins her 13th season guiding the Notre Dame women's lacrosse program.  The Irish are ranked 11th in the IWLCA preseason poll.

Irish Women's Lacrosse Ranked 11th In Preseason IWLCA Poll

Feb. 4, 2009

Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team that will open the 2009 season on Feb. 14 has been ranked 11th 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 have been ranked for the coming season. That list includes four-time defending national champion, Northwestern, as the Wildcats open the season ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Joining Northwestern on the list are BIG EAST foes, Syracuse at No. 2 and Georgetown at No. 8, along with Vanderbilt (No. 12), Dartmouth (No. 13), James Madison and Cornell (tied for No. 16) and Stanford at No. 18.

Notre Dame is coming off a 2008 season that saw them go 12-7 overall and finish second in the BIG EAST with a 4-1 mark. The Irish advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last seven seasons in 2008, falling in the first round to Northwestern. They finished the year ranked 12th in the final IWLCA poll.

In December, Notre Dame also was ranked 11th in the Lacrosse Magazine preseason poll.

Head coach Tracy Coyne enters her 13th season guiding the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team. The Irish will open the 2009 season on Saturday, Feb. 14 when they travel to Pittsburgh, Pa., for the season opener against Duquesne at 1:00 p.m.

Notre Dame opens the home schedule on Friday, Feb. 20 when the Irish play host to top-ranked Northwestern at the Loftus Center in a 7:00 p.m. contest.

IWLCA Division I Weekly Poll (February 2, 2009)
2008 record Points (1st)
1. Northwestern 21-1 399 (19)2. Syracuse 18-3 365 (1)3. Duke 13-8 3624. Virginia 14-4 3135. Penn 17-2 3026. Maryland 18-3 2857. Princeton 13-5 2808. Georgetown 12-7 2369. North Carolina 13-7 23010. Boston University 18-3 21411. Notre Dame 12-7 19512. Vanderbilt 13-6 14613. Dartmouth 7-9 13514. New Hampshire 13-6 8915. Johns Hopkins 7-9 8616t. James Madison 8-9 7516t. Cornell 10-6 7518. Stanford 12-8 6319t. Denver 13-6 6219t. Towson 13-6 62

Also receiving votes: Boston College, George Mason, Loyola, Ohio State, Penn State, Richmond, William & Mary, Yale