STATE COLLEGE, Pa., December 11, 2002- The Penn State men¡¯s lacrosse team is ranked No. 16 in Inside Lacrosse Magazine¡¯s Preseason Coaches poll. The Nittany Lions will take that ranking into the 2003 season along with 30 lettermen and seven starters.

Eleven of the 13 teams the Lions play earned spots in the Top 25. The teams include No.4 Virginia, No.6 Georgetown, No.8 Massachusetts, No.11 Cornell, No.14 Navy, No.17 Notre Dame, No.18 Yale, No.19 Ohio State, No.22 Fairfield, No.24 Bucknell, and No.25 Hobart. Syracuse was named number one with their 15-2 record last season.

Starters Luke Oglesby (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Haverford School), Marc Young (Devon, Pa./Haverford School), R.J. Charles (Martinsville, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan), Matt O¡¯Malley (Hunt Valley, Md./Boy¡¯s Latin), David Smith (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron), Matt Zappia (Canandaigua, NY./Canandaigua Academy) and Chris Garrity (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary¡¯s) join 30 returning lettermen for the 2003 campaign.

Penn State opens the season on Feb. 1 when they will scrimmage the Alumni Team at Holuba Hall at 3:00 p.m. On Feb. 8 the Lions will scrimmage Gettysburg at 1:00 p.m. Then the regular season begins for the Penn State when they host Notre Dame on February 23 at 1:00 p.m.


2002 Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Poll
1. Syracuse (21) -- 1023
2. Princeton (9) -- 1013
3. Johns Hopkins (9) -- 997
4. Virginia (6) -- 987
5. Maryland -- 847
6. Georgetown -- 824
7. Duke -- 803
8. UMass -- 716
9. North Carolina -- 670
10. Hofstra -- 632
11. Cornell -- 626
12. Loyola -- 597
13. Towson -- 514
14. Navy -- 462
15. Brown -- 438
16. Penn State -- 413
17. Notre Dame -- 401
18. Yale -- 357
19. Ohio State -- 296
20. Army -- 163
21. Harvard -- 156
22. Fairfield -- 144
23. Penn -- 143
24. Bucknell -- 124
25. Hobart -- 121

Others receiving votes: UMBC 118, Denver 77, Rutgers 33, Stony Brook 20, Delaware 16, Quinnipiac 9, Villanova 8, Albany 8, Manhattan 7, Butler 5, Dartmouth 2, Drexel 2, Air Force 1, Colgate 1.