Dec. 14, 2010

• 2011 schedule

The Stony Brook women's lacrosse team will play eight home games at LaValle Stadium, including defending national champion Maryland, as part of its 2011 schedule, head coach Allison Comito announced Tuesday.

The challenging slate will include three games against teams that advanced to the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Overall, Stony Brook's 15 opponents combined to produce a .532 winning percentage last season.

After a home scrimmage against C.W. Post on Feb. 5, the Seawolves will open the regular season Saturday, Feb. 12 at Colgate. The team will then host three consecutive games at home, including Manhattan (Feb. 16), Denver (Feb. 27) and Johns Hopkins (March 5).

Stony Brook then will play at Massachusetts (March 12) and Marist (March 16) before coming home to battle Iona on March 19 and then host the Maryland Terrapins March 22. Maryland has won 10 national championships, including last season, the program's first since winning seven straight titles from 1995-2001. Comito, a four-year letterwinner for the Terrapins, was a member of four of those national championship teams.

After Maryland, Stony Brook will open up conference play. The team will play at Vermont (March 27), UMBC (April 6) and New Hampshire (April 16) while hosting Albany (April 2), Binghamton (April 9) and Boston University (April 23).

Before the America East Championship begins on May 5, the Seawolves will play a non-conference game at Yale on April 30.

Comito returns 22 players from last season's team, including 11 out of 12 starters. The Seawolves, in only their ninth season of existence, are in search of their first-ever America East Championship.