Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Women's Lacrosse Team Moves To Third In The National Rankings

March 16, 2004

Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team, off to the best start in the program’s eight-year history, moved up to third in the national rankings after knocking off second-ranked Duke and sixth-ranked James Madison last week. The Irish are ranked third in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll and third by Inside Lacrosse magazine. That is the highest ranking the Irish have ever had since the program started in 1997.

The previous highest rank that the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team has had was seventh at the end of the 2002 season.

The Irish have won five straight to start the year and has won four straight over nationally ranked teams through the first three weeks of the season. To date, Notre Dame has beaten 15th-ranked Stanford, #19th-ranked Cornell, second-ranked Duke and sixth-ranked James Madison.

Combined with four wins at the end of the 2003 season, the Irish have now won nine consecutive games.

“We are very excited about being ranked this high. It’s a great accomplishment. The team has worked very hard to get to this point. It’s nice to be recognized,” said head coach Tracy Coyne.

“We have to realize that there is still a lot of season left and a lot of games left to be played. We have to keep working hard and stay focused on the games ahead of us.”

Notre Dame will put its 5-0 record on the line on Friday, March 26th when they return to action at home versus Virginia Tech. That game is scheduled to be played at Moose Krause Stadium with a starting time of 7:00 p.m.

IWLCA RANKINGS (as of March 16, 2004)No.  Team (1st place votes)       Points     Last                                             Week1.   Princeton (15)    (3-0)       300         12.   Georgetown        (3-0)       278         53.   NOTRE DAME        (5-0)       253        124.   Duke              (5-1)       245         25.   Virginia          (4-2)       231         96.   Loyola            (5-1)       225         47.   Maryland          (4-2)       219         38.   James Madison     (3-1)       216         69.   Syracuse          (1-2)       183         810.  Vanderbilt        (3-1)       157        1011.  Dartmouth         (1-1)       148         912.  North Carolina    (4-2)       144        1313.  Boston University (2-0)       108        1114.  Northwestern      (3-1)       102        1515.  Johns Hopkins     (5-0)        96        1716.  Yale              (2-2)        91        1617.  William & Mary    (3-1)        39        2018.  Penn State        (1-4)        36        14     Richmond          (2-2)        36        NR20.  Old Dominion      (2-0)        24        NR
Receiving Votes: Stanford, 15; Ohio State, 5.
2004 Inside Lacrosse Magazine 2004 Poll(as of March 16, 2004)
No. Team 1. Princeton 2. Georgetown 3. NOTRE DAME 4. James Madison 5. Duke 6. Virginia 7. Maryland 8. Loyola 9. Dartmouth10. Syracuse11. Vanderbilt12. Boston University13. North Carolina14. Yale15. Northwestern16. Penn State17. Johns Hopkins18. William & Mary19. Richmond20. Old Dominion