Dec. 9, 2002

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland men's lacrosse team is ranked No. 5 in the Inside Lacrosse magazine 2003 preseason top 25 coaches poll released Dec. 6. The Terps, who finished the 2002 season at No. 6, join fellow ACC schools Virginia, Duke and North Carolina, ranked No. 4, No. 7 and No. 9 respectively, in dominating this year's top 10.

"I'm very happy with our No. 5 ranking," Terrapin head coach Dave Cottle said. "This is going to be a very competitive year and I'm looking forward to the spring."

Maryland will face nine teams ranked in the preseason top 25 during the 2003 season: No. 3 Johns Hopkins (Apr. 12), No. 4 Virginia (Mar. 29), No. 6 Georgetown (Feb. 22), No. 7 Duke (Mar. 1), No. 9 North Carolina (Mar. 22), No. 13 Towson (Mar. 8), No. 14 Navy (Apr. 5), No. 17 Notre Dame (May 3) and No. 24 Bucknell (Mar. 11).

The Terps will also face-off against the top two-ranked teams, Syracuse and Princeton, in preseason scrimmages on Feb. 8 and Feb. 15, respectively.

Inside Lacrosse 2003 Preseason Coaches Poll

() - First place votes
1. Syracuse (21) 1023
2. Princeton (9) 1013
3. Johns Hopkins(9) 997
4. Virginia (6) 987
5. Maryland 847
6. Georgetown 824
7. Duke 803
8. Massachusetts 716
9. North Carolina 670
10. Hofstra 632
11. Cornell 636
12. Loyola 597
13. Towson 514
14. Navy 462
15. Brown 438
16. Penn State 413
17. Notre Dame 401
18. Yale 357
19. Ohio State 296
20. Army 163
21. Harvard 156
22. Fairfield 144
23. Penn 143
24. Bucknell 124
25. Hobart 121

Others receiving votes: UMBC 118, Denver 77, Rutgers 33, Stony Brook 20, Delaware 16, Quinnipiac 9, Villanova 8, Albany 8, Manhattan 7, Butler 5, Dartmouth 2, Drexel 2, Air Force 1, Colgate 1.