PISCATAWAY, NJ – The Rutgers men’s lacrosse team has received a Top 10-ranking in two national polls released today. The Scarlet Knights are No. 6 in the Inside Lacrosse media poll and No. 8 in the USILA coaches poll.

Rutgers, coming off a season-opening 13-9 victory over Dartmouth, received 119 points and tied with Notre Dame (1-1) for eighth in the USILA poll. Johns Hopkins, the 2003 national runner-up, received 193 points, including seven first place votes, to earn the No. 1 ranking.

The Scarlet Knights are the highest-ranked ECAC team, as No. 11 Georgetown (0-1, 80 points), No. 13 Massachusetts (0-1, 75 points) and No. 20 Penn State (1-1, 25 points) also made the poll. In all, Rutgers faces six teams this season who are currently ranked in the poll.

In the Inside Lacrosse poll, Rutgers received 208 points in a vote of national lacrosse media members. The Scarlet Knights are the highest-ranked ECAC team, ahead of No. 11 Massachusetts (162 points), No. 13 Georgetown (132 points) and No. 19 Penn State (43 points).

RU returns to action on Saturday, March 6, when it hosts Delaware at 1:00 p.m. at the Rutgers Stadium Complex. The Blue Hens (3-0) were receiving votes in this week’s USILA and Inside Lacrosse polls.

USILA Geico/STX Coaches Poll Inside Lacrosse Media Poll
March 1, 2004 March 1, 2004
1. Johns Hopkins 1-0 193 points 1. Johns Hopkins 1-0 311 points
2. Maryland 1-0 189 points 2. Syracuse 1-0 291 points
3. Syracuse 1-0 182 points 3. Maryland 1-0 286 points
4. North Carolina 1-0 163 points 4. Princeton 1-0 269 points
5. Princeton 1-0 157 points 5. North Carolina 1-0 267 points
6. Duke 1-0 140 points 6. Rutgers 1-0 208 points
7. Loyola 1-0 121 points 7. Duke 1-0 202 points
8. (tie) Rutgers 1-0 119 points 8. Cornell 1-0 188 points
8. (tie) Notre Dame 1-1 119 points 9. Virginia 1-2 183 points
10. Cornell 1-0 117 points 10. Loyola 1-0 176 points
11. (tie) Denver 2-0 80 points 11. Massachusetts 0-1 162 points
11. (tie) Georgetown 0-1 80 points 12. Notre Dame 1-1 137 points
13. Massachusetts 0-1 75 points 13. Georgetown 0-1 132 points
14. Air Force 2-0 70 points 14. Hofstra 0-1 111 points
15. (tie) Ohio State 1-1 53 points 15. Ohio State 1-1 93 points
15. (tie) Virginia 1-2 53 points 16. Denver 2-0 70 points
17. Towson 0-1 34 points 17. Towson 0-1 69 points
18. UMBC 0-1 27 points 18. Air Force 2-0 60 points
19. Hofstra 0-1 26 points 19. Penn State 1-1 43 points
20. Penn State 1-1 25 points 20. Pennsylvania 0-1 26 points

Others receiving votes: Army, Pennsylvania, Others receiving votes: UMBC, Dartmouth, NavyDelaware, Navy, Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth Army, Harvard, Delaware, Bucknell