Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/24/09

    The Northwestern Wildcats, the four-time reigning national champions, sit in the top spot of the IWLCA poll for the third consecutive week. The squad from Evanston, Ill. garnered all 20 first-place votes for the second straight week, followed by Duke, Syracuse, and Virginia. The Orange closed some of the distance between themselves and the Blue Devils, coming in three votes behind their fellow NCAA semifinalists from 2008.

   While the same 20 schools remained in the poll for the third consecutive week, there was some shuffling. Maryland rose to a season-high No. 5 as the Terrapins switched places with Penn, and Johns Hopkins from the ALC was the fastest riser, moving up two spots to No. 13. Georgetown, Vanderbilt, and Stanford also each improved one position from last week’s poll.

      The ACC and the Ivy League are again the only two conferences that claim four schools in the top-20. The four ACC representatives all rank in the top-10, including three in the top-five as Duke (No. 2), Virginia (No. 4), and Maryland (No. 5) lead the way followed by No. 9 North Carolina. Penn leads the four teams in the Ivy at No. 6, with Princeton also in the top-10 at No. 8. Dartmouth (No. 15) and Cornell (No. 17) remain in the top-20.

IWLCA Division I Weekly Poll

                                  Record  Votes (1st) Previous

1. Northwestern             3-0     400     (20)    1     

2. Duke                          4-0     364               2

3. Syracuse                   3-0     361               3

4. Virginia                       2-0     339              4

5. Maryland                    2-0     305               6

6. Penn                         1-0     288               5

7. Georgetown               1-0     261               8

8. Princeton                    0-0     259              7

9. North Carolina            3-0     254              9

10. Boston University     0-0     200             10

11. Vanderbilt                 1-1     191             12

12. Notre Dame              2-1     176             11

13. Johns Hopkins         1-0     132             15    

14. New Hampshire       1-0     124             14

15. Dartmouth               0-0     116              13

16. Stanford                  3-1     107              17

17. Cornell                     0-0     189             16

18. Towson                   0-0     60               18

19. James Madison      1-0     52               19

20. Denver                    3-2     39               20

Also receiving votes: Ohio State, William & Mary, Yale

Tags: Penn