March 8, 2004

The University of Notre Dame men's lacrosse team jumped three spots to fifth in this week's United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Geico/STX Coaches Poll, announced Monday. The current Irish join the 2001 team, which went on to reach the Final Four, as the only Notre Dame squads ever to be ranked in the top five of the USILA poll. Notre Dame will make its first-ever trip to Syracuse this week to take on the #3 Orangemen Thursday at 7 p.m. (EST) in the Carrier Dome before playing host to #9 North Carolina on Sunday at 1 p.m. (EST).

The idle Irish moved past four teams that suffered losses over the weekend. The Tar Heels, fourth a week ago, fell 9-8 in overtime at home against Navy on Friday, while Princeton, last week's No. 5, lost 14-5 at #1 Johns Hopkins on Saturday. On the same day, #6 Duke lost 17-12 to #2 Maryland and seventh-ranked Loyola dropped a 9-8 decision at #19 Hofstra.

The top three -- Hopkins, Maryland, and Syracuse -- remained unchanged from the first edition of the USILA rankings, released on March 1. Rutgers, which defeated Delaware 12-4 at home on Saturday to remain undefeated, moved up from an eighth-place tie (with the Irish) to stand fourth in this week's listing.

Notre Dame opened the season with a 17-7 victory over #17 Penn State on Feb. 29 in the Loftus Sports Center.

The ranking is the highest for Notre Dame since it finished the 2001 season fourth following a 14-2 season. In 2003, the Irish peaked at ninth in the USILA rankings before finishing 18th.

Ten of Notre Dame's 12 opponents are either listed in the USILA top 20 or receiving votes. Besides Maryland (May 1, away), Syracuse, and North Carolina, the other '04 Irish opponents in the rankings are #10 Denver (April 11, away), #11 Hofstra (March 24, home), #12 Loyola (March 20, away), and #20 Air Force (April 9, away). Ohio State (March 31, home), Fairfield (April 18, home), and Dartmouth (April 4, home) are among the six teams receiving votes, but listed just outside the top 20.

USILA Geico/STX Coaches Poll
March 8, 2004
Rank	Team			W-L	Pts.	Previous
1. 	Johns Hopkins (6)	2-0	195	1
2. 	Maryland (4)		2-0	192	2
3. 	Syracuse		2-0	183	3
4. 	Rutgers			2-0	145	T-8
5. 	NOTRE DAME		1-0	135	T-8
6. 	Georgetown		1-1	132	T-11
7. 	Princeton		1-1	129	5
8.	Duke			2-1	127	6
9.	North Carolina		1-1	123	4
10.	Denver			3-0	123	T-11
11.	Hofstra			1-1	95	19
12.	Loyola			1-1	89	7
13.	Cornell			1-1	84	10
14.	Massachusetts		2-1	76	13
15.	Navy			2-1	75	--
16.	UMBC			1-1	50	18
17.	Virginia		1-3	39	16
18.	Towson			1-1	33	17
19.	Army			1-1	31	--
20.	Air Force		2-1	18	14
Others receiving votes: Bucknell, Ohio State, Fairfield, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Dartmouth.