Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/4/09
West Chester, the reigning national champions, begins the 2009 season on top of the IWLCA weekly polls, as announced by the organization today.
The Golden Rams earned 9 of the 10 first-place votes to rank first, followed by the C. W. Post Pioneers, who fell to West Chester in the 2008 NCAA Championship final. The Pioneers were awarded one first-place vote and rank second nationally.
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference leads all conferences with four schools in the top-10, lead by top-ranked West Chester. 2008 semifinalist Lock Haven comes in at No. 5 (tied), while conference rookies Mercyhurst (No. 7) and Gannon (No. 9) are also ranked. Three other conferences claim two members each, including the East Coast Conference, which claims the No. 2 Pioneers and No. 3 Adelphi. No. 4 Limestone and No. 10 Belmont Abbey represent Conference Carolinas and No. 5 (tied) Stonehill and No. 8 New Haven represent the Northeast-10.
The IWLCA poll will be released each week, beginning February 16.
IWLCA Division II Weekly Poll
1. West Chester 20-1 99 (9 first-place votes)
2. C. W. Post 17-2 86 (1)
3. Adelphi 16-1 84
4. Limestone 17-2 66
5t. Lock Haven 15-4 53
5t. Stonehill 14-3 53
7. Mercyhurst 12-3 29
8. New Haven 14-3 24
9. Gannon 11-4 14
10. Belmont Abbey 12-7 9
IWLCA Division III Preseason Poll Released
Hamilton opens up season on top of poll
The Hamilton Continentals, the reigning national champions, begin the 2009 season on top of the IWLCA weekly polls, as announced by the organization today. The Continentals garnered 18 of the 20 first-place votes to rank first, followed by the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats, who faced the Continentals in the 2008 NCAA Championship final. The Dips took two first-place votes and rank second nationally. The other two semifinalists from 2008, the Salisbury Seagulls and the TCNJ Lions, rank third and fourth, respectively.
While both the Liberty League and the Centennial Conference claim three schools in the poll, led by top-ranked Hamilton and second-ranked Franklin & Marshall, the NESCAC boasts six schools, starting with No. 5 Middlebury. No. 8 Colby and No. 10 Amherst also reside in the top-10, while Trinity (No. 13), Tufts (No. 16), and Bowdoin (No. 20) speak to the depth of the conference.
Hamilton is joined in the top-10 by No. 7 Union, while conference-mate William Smith checks in at No. 18 for the Liberty League. The Centennial Conference claims No. 4 Gettysburg and No. 15 Dickinson in addition to the Dips.
The Capital Athletic Conference and the NJAC both have two schools; St. Mary’s (No. 17) joins Salisbury from the CAC while Rowan (No. 19) is also a member of the NJAC.
Four other conferences are also represented in the top-20. Washington & Lee from the ODAC returns to the top-10 at No. 9. The Babson Beavers (No. 11) of the NEWMAC come in just above the Cortland Red Dragons (No. 12) of the SUNYAC, while the Cardinals of Catholic (No. 14) are just two spots below Cortland.
The IWLCA poll will be released each week, beginning February 16.
IWLCA Division III Weekly Poll
1. Hamilton 21-1 398 (18)
2. Franklin & Marshall 19-2 370 (2)
3. Salisbury 22-1 361
4. TCNJ 17-2 338
5. Middlebury 12-5 310
6. Gettysburg 17-4 283
7. Union 15-4 267
8. Colby 13-6 260
9. Washington & Lee 17-3 228
10. Amherst 15-4 226
11. Babson 16-3 178
12. Cortland 14-6 149
13. Trinity (CT) 11-7 143
14. Catholic 17-5 105
15. Dickinson 12-6 102
16. Tufts 10-5 95
17. St. Mary’s 15-6 89
18. William Smith 13-4 78
19. Rowan 13-5 69
20. Bowdoin 9-7 51
Also receiving votes (in alphabetical order): Bates, Stevens
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