Inside Lacrosse Releases Division I Preseason Rankings

[adam]

Inside Lacrosse magazine is releasing its pre-season Division I rankings on TLF, the LacrosseForums.com, the top Internet message board site for women’s lacrosse. Inside Lacrosse released its All-America list on Monday.

The All-America list and preseason rankings are compiled by Inside Lacrosse magazine. Published 11 times annually in Towson, Md., Inside Lacrosse is the leading publication on the sport of lacrosse, with subscribers in all 50 states and eight foreign countries. The All-America lists, along with team profiles, player profiles and season previews, will be available in the women’s preview issue of Inside Lacrosse, which will hit newsstands in early February.

Division I Top Twenty:
1. Virginia
2. Princeton
3. Northwestern
4. Duke
5. Georgetown
6. North Carolina
7. Hopkins
8. Maryland
9. Loyola
10 Dartmouth
11. James Madison
12. Towson
13. Syracuse
14. William & Mary
15. Delaware
16. Notre Dame
17. UNH
18. Hofstra
19. George Mason
20. Boston University

[sumSum]

Right on with Northwestern, good to see them get some credit. Unfortunetly I have to say that I also agree with seeing MD down so low in the rankings (they're still top 10 so far!). Until they get a serious recruiting class for a couple years like they used to have, they wont return to national championship status IMO.

[DrDetroit]

gotta love Amy Appelt and Virginia

[baltolax]

Some bold picks (Carolina and Hopkins)!

Six CAA teams in the bottom half of the top 20. Should be a brutal conference.

[Admin]

Inside Lacrosse Women's Preview is mailing on the 8th of the month. Amy Appelt on the cover, with a huge profile on her, inside.
172 pages! For the record, this women's preview magazine is about forty pages longer than any issue IL has ever done.

[Frodo Lives]

Maryland at #8. Delaware at #15 - bold picks indeed

[arizona]

Bold is not the word I would use. Confused maybe.
sumSum questions Maryland's recruiting classes. IL picked them 4th this year with the only unanimous blue chip player.
Northwestern and Hopkins have not proved themselves.
Towson #12 - ?????????????????????? On what grounds?
Virginia deserves and has earned #1.
Princeton is #2 until unseated. They will have great trouble replacing Sherry.
Duke has earned #3
Maryland should be #4
Georgetown and Loyola struggled in the fall, hopefully they will pull themselves together.

[Frodo Lives]

Happy to see that at least some of the schools less recognized got some play - Hofstra, UNH, for example. BU at 20??? How could Inside Lacrosse echo Lacrosse Magazine's tragic misjudgment as it relates to BU?. Six CAA teams in top 20 shows the pollsters think highly of this conference. Because they will undoubtedly knock off each other in conference play, I don’t believe they can all stay there throughout the year. Look for Hofstra as a dark horse this year. Most of the team is back and it has a good blend of younger and more seasoned players.

[laxdraw18]

How has Northwestern not proven themselves? They advanced to the 2nd round of the NCAAs last year and from all accounts played UVa in a tight game. AND everyone is back for them. Hopkins may be a bit high, agreed, but Mary Key is awesome and the Hop has a good recruiting class. UNC is also maybe a bit high, but they have a good group returning. Maryland is helped by Delia Cox returning, maybe they did these before she decided to come back. I agree that Hofstra will be a great team this year...Bridget Eder is incredible! But I also think BU will be good...they have Mary Beth Miller, Alyssa Trudel, and Danica Strutt AND they got a stud in Jenny Hauser (SSSA). It will be exciting to see how the CAA turns out too.

[baltolax]

BU has the talent--the Terriers were preseason top 10 last year. Sometimes teams believe the hype and underachieve. Look at Vanderbilt in 2003. Preseason top ten--nightmare season. No expectations in '04 - the 'Dores make the final four.

BU should bounce back--question is how much.

[arizona]

I saw BU, Hopkins, Loyola and Georgetown play Maryland this year. BU played them the closest although Acacia Walker was not there. Maryland took Loyola and Georgetown apart. Hopkins started off well and then was steamrolled by Maryland. All teams were subbing freely and using the freshman. delia Cox, Annie Collins, and Laura Warren did not play fall.
Mary Key is a great player. Pearce was Hopkins top point getter last year and will not be returning so it is hard to believe they ended the season out of the top 10 and are now in the top ten.

[sumSum]

The only reason I question MD is because despite a good recruiting class every year recently they still have not been able to to make it to the championship game. Maybe this is their year but because that blue chip player is a frosh and new to the college game and MD's program, I dont think they should be top 4 in the preseason. They will probably prove themselves as a perennial power (of course, they're MD!) but I dont think they're a top 4 pick. I would say 5th, bordering on 4th.

I had high hopes for BU last season but they failed to bring the program into the limelight. With Trudel, Miller, Strutt, etc. they will hopefully pull it together and come back. Talking with a player last year she made it seem they just couldnt figure it out, but who knows how much she'd really tell...

Georgetown: Stanwick isnt enough. Other than her I dont know much about them (which, IMO, says a lot).

Dont really have much else to say. I didnt keep up on last season well. School is time consuming :( and I miss being a stat freak.

...go terps...

[baltolax]

Hard for me to see Maryland ranked over Georgetown. The Hoyas split with the Terps with both games in College Park, and the game they lost, their goalie was sick in the hospital an hour before the game.

Maryland has much better freshmen coming in this year, but Georgetown only lost three seniors and were pretty deep a year ago.

Big edge to Maryland in 2006 though.

[lax_08]

Definately agree with virgina and princeton 1 and 2... Northwestern definately deserve to be in the top 5, whoever said they havent proved themselves obviously didnt watch them last season. I would have to disagree with MD being down at number 8, the yare definately a top 5 team again, now that Delia and Laura Warren are coming back into the side they are a big force. I think they must not have known about these players being back in the side. Also MD have an aussie going over, who is a reserve for the Australian National Team, she could have an impact.
can someone fill me in whats a blue chip?

[sumSum]

Also MD have an aussie going over, who is a reserve for the Australian National Team, she could have an impact.
can someone fill me in whats a blue chip?

Any idea which Aussie player this is?

A blue chip player is essentially a high school recruit who is agreed on by all college coaches as top division one talent and whom is wanted by all the schools.

[baltolax]

The Aussie is Casey Magor, who played for the U-19 team.

[lax_08]

yep Casey Magor.... plays at the same club back in Aus as Sonia and Jen did. she is wearing #22 so look out for her. nifty little midfield/attacker who can score goals.

[arizona]

IL asks college coaches who they think the top high school seniors are. The players that recieve the most votes are the blue chips. Kasper at Maryland is the only player that recieved a vote from every college coach.
lax08 - I did see Northwestern play and believe them to be very talented. I do not believe they should be moved up in the polls from last year though. Northwestern did not have a strong recruiting class.

[mdlc-lax]

Doesn't anyone else feel that if NW is going to be so highly ranked, they should be playing a more difficult schedule? Once you get past Duke, Hopkins and NC (two games of which they'll lose); that schedule seems very soft. Keep in mind the fact many of the opposing teams have lost major players, in multiples at that. Who will they schedule in '06; Hammond Middle School?

[Frodo Lives]

Doesn't anyone else feel that if NW is going to be so highly ranked, they should be playing a more difficult schedule? Once you get past Duke, Hopkins and NC (two games of which they'll lose); that schedule seems very soft. Keep in mind the fact many of the opposing teams have lost major players, in multiples at that. Who will they schedule in '06; Hammond Middle School?

NW may lose all three. Which team do you figure it will beat for one out of three - Hopkins or UNC?

[arizona]

I think they will be Hopkins and UNC but I do agree Northwestern has one of the easier schedules.

[lax_08]

yeah i agree that the NU schedule is nothing compared to a team like maryland or Virgina or princeton. i guess the big test wil be in the championship when they actually have to play these teams. and i think the yhave the potential to beat UNC, hopkins. maybe not duke

[bobcats2009]

I think Northwestern has proven themselves. Their ALC games won't be as easy as people think. Personally, I could see an underdog team like that make it pretty far in the NCAA

[kerf_19]

how do you know so much about Casey??

[lax_08]

how do you know so much about Casey??

i saw casey play and met her when i was in aus a litlte over a year ago... also caught her again at U19 tourny where she did pretty well.

[molax19]

No comments on Notre Dame? They're not ranked as highly as last year, but I'm proud of them for being in the top 20 as a young program in the midwest, and holding their own against the east coast.
Not that it wouldn't also be nice to see Appelt at another championship...

[Skywalkerslax58]

what i wanna know is where is vanderbilt?? i mean comeon they made final 4 last year and they were an underdog team to begin with. i personnally love vanderbilt and actually just visted the campus this past weekend. vanderbilt is good enough and did good enough last year to be at least in the top 20 if not in the top 10.

[sumSum]

I didnt watch any of the games but I heard Vandy made it into the semis due to stalling methods and a decent defense, not necessarily due to other skills. Anyone know anything about this?

[Skywalkerslax58]

i dont think they are good enough to be like top 5 or anything but they made final 4 last year i mean there was obviously something..u dont make it that far on luck, at least not with the competion thats out there now..i wish i could have seen them at least in the top 20

[lax_08]

Doesn't anyone else feel that if NW is going to be so highly ranked, they should be playing a more difficult schedule? Once you get past Duke, Hopkins and NC (two games of which they'll lose); that schedule seems very soft. Keep in mind the fact many of the opposing teams have lost major players, in multiples at that. Who will they schedule in '06; Hammond Middle School?


Just wanted to put this out there because there was a few people at the beginning of the season who doubted Northwestern's ability to win agianst tougher teams. They recently beat Duke 16-11 who were ranked #2, so i definately think they have got a chance when the championship comes around. It is pretty difficult to judge how they will do against Pricneton, Virginia Etc, but in my opinion it was awesome to see them beat Duke and prove that they aren't just a team who beats the easier teams. It should be a good game this week when the play Penn State, i wonder if Penn State can knock off another #1 ranked team!! I am al lfor Northwestern this year and hope they continue to play good lacrosse. Good luck to them in May!!!
Just for the record, they happened to beat NC aswell, so alot of us should be eating our words that we said pre season i think

[rc13]

It'll be much easier for them to schedule games now that NU is on top for a few weeks.

It's not easy to get a powerhouse to go to the midwest for one game (maybe two--but ND is not right around the corner).