Orange Ranked Fifth in Preseason Poll

The Syracuse women’s lacrosse team is ranked fifth in Lacrosse Magazine’s preseason top 20 rankings. The Orange is coming off its best season in the program’s history, winning a school-record 13 games last year. Syracuse won the inaugural BIG EAST Tournament and recorded the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory against Vanderbilt.

The Orange, under the direction of first-year head coach Gary Gait, returns five of its top seven scorers from a year ago, including All-Americans Katie Rowan and Halley Quillinan. Rowan led the high-powered Syracuse offense and set school records with 86 points and 59 goals last season, while Quillinan was second on the team with 50 goals.

Three-time defending national champion Northwestern, which defeated SU in the NCAA quarterfinals last season, was picked No. 1 followed by Virginia, Duke and Maryland. The Orange plays at Virginia on March 1 and hosts Northwestern on March 24. Four other BIG EAST schools made the rankings, including Georgetown (No. 11), Notre Dame (No. 12) and Rutgers (No. 19).

Syracuse opens the 2008 campaign on Wednesday, February 20 against Canisius at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome.

Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Poll

1. Northwestern

2. Virginia

3. Duke

4. Maryland

5. SYRACUSE

6. Pennsylvania

7. Princeton

8. North Carolina

9. Johns Hopkins

10. Yale