Ewing, NJ...The College of New Jersey women's lacrosse team will start the 2010 season with a top-five ranking, as the Lions hold down the fifth spot in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Division III preseason poll.

TCNJ garnered 298 points in the poll with defending national champion Franklin & Marshall College in the top spot with 395 votes. Salisbury University is in the second slot with 375 points, followed by Gettysburg College (351) and Hamilton College (328).

The Lions will get a first-hand look at a number of teams ranked in the preseason poll, including the top three. TCNJ hosts Gettysburg on April 3, Salisbury on April 10, and Franklin & Marshall on April 23. TCNJ then heads to 16th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology on April 29 and 13th-ranked SUNY Cortland on May 1. 

The season starts for the Lions on Thursday, March 4 with a New Jersey Athletic Conference game at Ramapo College.

TCNJ is coming off of a 16-3 season where they captured their first New Jersey Athletic Conference title in conference history and advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.

IWLCA Division III Preseason Poll
Record Votes (1st pl)
1. Franklin & Marshall   
2. Salisbury University 
3. Gettysburg College  
4. Hamilton College  
5. The College of New Jersey  
6. Middlebury College
7. Tufts University 
8. Catholic University
9. Union College
10. Colby College
11. Babson College
12. Williams College
13. SUNY Cortland
14. William Smith College 
15. Trinity (CT) College 
16. Stevens  Institute of Technology
17. Roanoke College
18. St. John Fisher
19. Washington and Lee
20. Buffalo State 
Also receiving votes: Amherst College, Bowdoin College, Elizabethtown College, Mary Washington