STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Stony Brook women's lacrosse is poised to return to action next spring again as a top-five team in the nation.
US Lacrosse has released its
early 2021 rankings. And the Seawolves find themselves ranked fifth by the magazine, which writes:
"
Joe Spallina's Seawolves immediately reminded the nation of their past half-decade of success by topping Syracuse in one-goal thriller in their season opener. Outside of a two-goal hiccup on the road against Florida, Stony Brook was playing like a team ready for another NCAA Tournament run. And that window is still open.
"Likely Tewaaraton finalist
Ally Kennedy and integral attacker
Taryn Ohlmiller are back for fifth years, and USC midfielder Kaeli Huff transferred to use her fifth year closer to home. Add in a healthy
Siobhan Rafferty, who was set to miss all of last year with a leg injury, and the Stony Brook midfield appears to be in good shape. There don't appear to be any glaring weaknesses on this team, though improving on a defense that ranked 35th nationally last year should be a point of emphasis."
The magazine's top 25:
1. North Carolina
2. Notre Dame
3. Loyola
4. Syracuse
5. Stony Brook
6. Northwestern
7. Maryland
8. Florida
9. Michigan
10. Penn
11. Richmond
12. Denver
13. USC
14. James Madison
15. Dartmouth
16. Duke
17. Boston College
18. Virginia
19. UMass
20. Virginia Tech
21. Navy
22. Penn State
23. Colorado
24. Stanford
25. Hofstra
