PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's lacrosse checks in at No. 8 in the 2023 ILWomen/IWLCA Preseason Coaches Poll, announced Monday. The No. 8 ranking in the coaches poll is the highest for the Scarlet Knights in program history. RU is also No. 7 in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Top 20 ahead of the spring campaign.
Rutgers is one of five Big Ten programs in the initial ILWomen/IWLCA preseason poll, joining No. 2 Maryland, No. 4 Northwestern, No. 17 Michigan, and No. 20 Johns Hopkins. Ten of the Scarlet Knights' 2023 regular season opponents appear or received votes in the poll.
Under reigning Big Ten Coach of the Year
Melissa Lehman, RU enjoyed its most successful season in school history with a program-record 16 victories in 2022, its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and the team's first top-10 finish in the final IWLCA Coaches Poll (No. 10). The Scarlet Knights delivered wins over six ranked opponents during the 2022 campaign and advanced to their first ever Big Ten Tournament title game with their victory over No. 4 Northwestern – the team's first over the Wildcats and highest-ranked win in school history.
Rutgers returns three All-Americans from last season's record-setting team –
Meghan Ball,
Marin Hartshorn, and
Cassidy Spilis. Ball, Spilis and
Ashley Campo were selected as preseason All-Americans last month, as Spilis returns as the reigning Big Ten Midfielder of the Year. The Scarlet Knights also return 12 players who started 10 or more games last season and seven of their top nine goal scorers from a year ago.
Rutgers opens its 2023 season on Sunday, February 12 at No. 19 Jacksonville.
| Rank |
Institution |
Points (FPV) |
Last Poll |
| 1 |
North Carolina |
666 (22) |
1 |
| 2 |
Maryland |
634 (2) |
2 |
| 3 |
Boston College |
613 (3) |
3 |
| 4 |
Northwestern |
599 |
4 |
| 5 |
Syracuse |
574 |
5 |
| 6 |
Stony Brook |
536 |
6 |
| 7 |
Florida |
500 |
7 |
| 8 |
RUTGERS |
439 |
9 |
| 9 |
Denver |
426 |
8 |
| 10 |
Loyola |
412 |
10 |
| 11 |
Duke |
402 |
12 |
| 12 |
James Madison |
361 |
11 |
| 13 |
Virginia |
334 |
17 |
| 14 |
Stanford |
319 |
13 |
| 15 |
Princeton |
302 |
14 |
| 16 |
Notre Dame |
300 |
16 |
| 17 |
Michigan |
249 |
18 |
| 18 |
USC |
234 |
15 |
| 19 |
Jacksonville |
198 |
19 |
| 20 |
Johns Hopkins |
103 |
21 |
| 21 |
Yale |
98 |
23 |
| 22 |
Richmond |
88 |
25 |
| 23 |
Umass |
69 |
20 |
| 24 |
Uconn |
53 |
22 |
| 25 |
Colorado |
40 |
40 |
| RV |
Arizona State, Penn State, Ohio State, Temple, Navy |
|
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