Nov. 4, 2008

Stony Brook, N.Y. -

Stony Brook University’s men’s lacrosse team received some early recognition for the 2009 season when LaxNews announced its 2009 pre-season Top-25 that has the Seawolves ranked at No. 25. Stony Brook is one of two America East Conference teams in the poll, with 2008 champion UMBC 13th in the rankings.

Stony Brook, which is coming off a 7-7 season in 2008 that included an upset of then ninth-ranked Delaware, returns the top-scoring tandem in the nation in 2008. Sophomores Jordan McBride (New Westminster, B.C.) and Kevin Crowley (New Westminster, B.C.) combined to score 66 goals in 2008, with McBride finishing third in the nation in goals per game and Crowley 10th in assists per game. The Seawolves will return a core group of 13 letterwinners, including first team All-America East junior defender Steven Waldeck (Levittown, N.Y.), in 2009 that will be joined by a highly regarded recruiting class which will face a challenging schedule that includes six of the teams in the LaxNews poll.

2009 LaxNews Preseason Top 25
1. Virginia
2. Syracuse
3. Hopkins
4. Maryland
5. Cornell
6. Duke
7. Princeton
8. Loyola
9. Navy
10. North Carolina
11. Georgetown
12. Notre Dame
13. UMBC
14. Drexel
15. Colgate
16. Hofstra
17. Bucknell
18. Brown
19. Army
20. Ohio State
21. Denver
22. Harvard
23. Delaware
24. UMass
25. Stony Brook