Jan. 8, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern, the four-time defending national champion, earned Lacrosse Magazine's nod as the number one team in it's Preseason Top-20 poll. In addition, reigning Tewaaraton Trophy winner Hannah Nielsen (Adelaide, Australia/Brighton Secondary) was dubbed as the magazine's Preseason Player of the Year.
The rankings, compiled by Lacrosse Magazine staff after consultations with coaches during the off-season, produced the Wildcats, Syracuse, Duke, Virginia and Princeton as it's top five teams heading into the 2009 season. National runner-up Penn comes in at sixth, with Georgetown, Maryland, Boston University and North Carolina rounding out the top 10. A pair of American Lacrosse Conference opponents also cracked the top-20, with Vanderbilt checking in at 12th and Johns Hopkins ranked 20th.
After capturing both the Tewaaraton Trophy and Honda Sports Award for Lacrosse in 2008, it comes as little surprise that Nielsen was named the Preseason Player of the Year. Nielsen enters the season ranked fourth in NU history with 256 points, including holding the Wildcats' all-time assist mark at 141, and enters the year needing just 38 assists to become the NCAA's all-time assist leader.
Of the 19 remaining teams in the top-20 poll, the Wildcats have 10 of them on their 2009 schedule, which opens up in just over two weeks. NU meets up with 18th-ranked Denver in San Diego, Calif., on Jan. 23rd, as it begins its quest for a fifth-straight national championship.
Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Top-20 Poll
1. Northwestern
2. Syracuse
3. Duke
4. Virginia
5. Princeton
6. Penn
7. Georgetown
8. Maryland
9. Boston University
10. North Carolina
11. Notre Dame
12. Vanderbilt
13. New Hampshire
14. Dartmouth
15. James Madison
16. Cornell
17. Towson
18. Denver
19. Stanford
20. Johns Hopkins