Picking up right where it left off when last season was canceled, the UNC women’s lacrosse team was ranked No. 1 in the Inside Lacrosse preseason rankings released on Monday.

The Tar Heels were 7-0 and ranked No. 1 at the time of last season’s cancellation, but will return the entire roster after the NCAA gave athletes an extra year of eligibility.

National Attacker of the Year Jamie Ortega will join UNC’s all-time point leader Katie Hoeg and the National Defensive Player of the Year Emma Trenchard in leading the Tar Heels this season. In addition, UNC also has four other All-Americans returning and a top-flight recruiting class.

Behind the Tar Heels in the rankings are: No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Syracuse No. 4 Northwestern and No. 5 Loyola.

The rest of the top 10 includes: No. 6 Stony Brook, No. 7 Florida, No. 8 Maryland, No. 9 Michigan and No. 10 James Madison.

Carolina is also listed as the top program in the Nike/U.S. Lacrosse preseason poll, which was released earlier this month.

UNC is scheduled to begin the season at home on Feb. 13 against No. 10 James Madison.

 

Photo via Dakota Moyer

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