STATE COLLEGE, Pa., December 18, 2001 - Face-off Yearbook ranked the Penn State men's lacrosse team sixteenth in its preseason poll which was announced today. Senior Will Driscoll (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) and junior Chris Garrity (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) were also named preseason honorable mention All-Americans by the magazine.

Eleven of Penn State's 13 opponents are ranked in the preseason top 25, including No. 5 Virginia, No. 11 Notre Dame and No. 15 Cornell. All six of the ECAC squads are ranked among the top 25. Georgetown leads the pack at No. 7, followed by No. 12 Massachusetts, No. 14 Navy, No. 18 UMBC and No. 24 Rutgers. No. 19 Bucknell, No. 21 Delaware and No. 23 Hobart will also battle the Nittany Lions during the 2002 campaign.

Driscoll earns preseason honorable mention All-America honors for the first time in his career. He was the team's leader in points with 47 and was ranked 24th in the country in goals at 38. He earned second team All-ECAC Conference accolades last year and was named conference Player of the Week.

Garrity will be stepping in to take over the role of starting goalie, replacing Matt Vallone who graduated after last season. Garrity saw time in eight games as the backup goalkeeper. He made 43 saves and owned a .741 save percentage.

Penn State opens the season on Feb. 24 facing Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. The Lions will then open the home slate on March 4 against Air Force at 3 p.m.

2002 Face-Off Yearbook Preseason Poll