Women's lacrosse eighth in final poll

WATERVILLE, Maine --- The Colby College women's lacrosse team finished the 2008 season ranked eighth in the country, started this past season ranked eighth, and finished the 2009 season again at eighth in NCAA Division III after the final Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) national poll was released.

The Mules finished the year 16-2 and won a second straight New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title. Despite the second straight championship, Middlebury College ended the year ranked sixth and Tufts University was seventh. Colby fell 9-3 to Middlebury in an NCAA regional semifinal, but the Mules beat the Panthers in a NESCAC semifinal the week before and won the regular season game on a neutral site. Tufts and Colby both finished 8-1 in league play this year, but the Jumbos hosted the NESCAC Final Four after winning the regular season game between the two teams. Tufts, though, lost in a NESCAC semifinal game to Williams.

Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association

Final NCAA Division III Poll

1.       Franklin & Marshall               21-1

2.       Salisbury                             20-2

3.       Hamilton                              16-3

4.       Gettysburg                           16-4

5.       College of New Jersey           16-3

6.       Middlebury                            11-6

7.       Tufts                                     16-3

8.       Colby                                    16-2

Union                                              15-4

10     Catholic                                  17-4

11     Williams                                 13-7

12     Cortland                                  14-7

13     Babson                                   15-3

14     William Smith                          11-4

15     Stevens                                   16-2

16     Trinity                                      10-4

17     Roanoke                                  16-5

18     St. John Fisher                         11-7

19     Buffalo State                            16-2

20     Elizabethtown                          16-3

Others receiving votes (alphabetical order): Drew, Mary Washington, Messiah, Rowan, Washington & Lee.