Feb. 4, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team debuted at No. 9 in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) preseason top-20 coaches poll. The Fighting Irish have four teams on their 2010 slate that appear in the rankings.
Syracuse, the defending national champion, tops the poll, followed by Duke and Virginia, respectively. North Carolina and Johns Hopkins round out the top five in that order.
Notre Dame will open the season at Duke on Feb. 20, while the Irish will close out the regular-season against Syracuse at Notre Dame’s brand new Arlotta Stadium on May 1. The Fighting Irish and Orange are part of the new seven-team BIG EAST men’s lacrosse league.
The other ranked opponents on Notre Dame’s schedule are BIG EAST foe Georgetown (#13) and Loyola (#15). The Irish will travel to Georgetown on April 11, while the Irish and Greyhounds will meet in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic on March 6 in Baltimore, Md.
The Fighting Irish are coming off a 15-1 campaign that included earning the No. 7 seed in the NCAA Championship. Notre Dame won both the Great Western Lacrosse League regular-season and tournament titles in the final season for the conference.
Notre Dame returns six starters and 16 letterwinners from last season’s squad. In 2009, the Irish ranked first nationally with a school-record 6.19 goals-against average. The Irish offense was 10th in the nation by averaging 11.00 goals per game.
— ND —