April 30, 2002

Notre Dame, Ind. - The Notre Dame women's lacrosse team, in the midst of its most successful season in the program's six-year history, moved up two spots to eighth in the latest Brine/Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll. The No. 8 ranking is the highest in the six-year history of the program.

The Irish, 11-4 overall and 5-1 in BIG EAST action, close out the regular season on Friday, May 3 at Moose Krause Stadium when they play host to 10th-ranked Vanderbilt. The opening draw is set for 1:00 p.m.

Notre Dame highest previous ranking was No. 9 from April 8 through April 22. The Irish are coming off road wins versus Northwestern (11-3) and Rutgers (9-2) last week. Vanderbilt comes into Friday's game with a 9-4 record and is 5-0 in the American Lacrosse Conference.

Nationally, Princeton remains No. 1 with a 15-1 record. The Tigers received 159 points, including seven first-place votes. Georgetown (14-1) is second with 153 points, while North Carolina (15-2) has 144 points. Virginia (14-3) with 136 points and Loyola (MD), 14-3 with 127 points rounds out the top five teams.

BRINE/IWLCA RANKINGS (April 30, 2002)
No.   Team                Points     Record     LW
1.    Princeton (7)        159       15-1        1
2.    Georgetown (1)       153       14-1        2
3.    North Carolina       144       15-2        3
4.    Virginia             136       14-3        5
5.    Loyola               127       14-3        4
6.    Cornell              116       12-1        6
7.    Maryland             110        9-9        8
8.    Notre Dame           105       11-4       10
9.    Duke                  95        8-7        7
10.   Vanderbilt            83        9-4       12
11.   Old Dominion          80       13-5       11
12.   Yale                  72       11-5        9
13.   Dartmouth             71       10-5       13
14.   Ohio State            53       10-4       16
15.   James Madison         51        8-9       14
16.   Syracuse              41        9-5       18
17.   Penn State            32        7-9       15
18.   Johns Hopkins         19        9-6       17
19.   Temple                17       12-4       19
20.   George Mason           8        8-8       NR