The defending NCAA Division III champion SUNY Cortland men's lacrosse team is ranked first in preseason polls conducted by both the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) and Lacrosse Magazine.

Cortland finished 19-2 last spring, setting a school record for victories in a season, and won its second NCAA title in four years. The Red Dragons have advanced to the national title game four consecutive seasons.

Fourth-year head coach Steve Beville's squad will open its season at home on Saturday, Feb. 27, versus eighth-ranked Western New England College. The teams met twice last year, with Cortland defeating the Golden Bears in the season opener, 15-7, and in the NCAA quarterfinals, 6-5.

The Red Dragons will face third-ranked Gettysburg College in a rematch of last year's NCAA title game when the teams meet on March 6 in Massapequa, N.Y., on Long Island. Cortland beat the Bullets for the national championship, 9-7, as well as by a 14-8 count during the season in Massapequa.

Cortland's schedule also features a matchup with perennial power and fourth-ranked Salisbury University on March 10 in Haverford, Pa. The Red Dragons and the Sea Gulls played in the national finals three straight years, with Cortland winning in 2006 and Salisbury victorious in 2007 and 2008.

Cortland's schedule also features four other USILA nationally ranked squads with home games versus Nazareth and Geneseo, each tied for 15th, and road games at 14th-ranked Ithaca and 18th-ranked St. Lawrence.

"We believe this is the most challenging schedule in the nation,” said Beville. “We are committed to our student-athletes, giving them the opportunity to play against the best competition in the division.”

In addition, senior midfielders Tom Burke (Massapequa), Chris Dutkowsky (Vestal) and Brandon Misiaszek (New Hartford) and senior attack Brian Krol (Niskayuna) have been named Cortland's team captains.


2010 USILA Div. III Preseason Poll

1) Cortland
2) Stevenson (Md.)
3) Gettysburg (Pa.)
4) Salisbury (Md.)
5) Roanoke (Va.)

tie 6) Denison (Ohio)
tie 6) Middlebury (Vt.)
8) Western New England (Mass.)
9) Tufts (Mass.)
10) Haverford (Pa.)

11) Wesleyan (Conn.)
12) Cabrini (Pa.)
13) Washington & Lee (Va.)
14) Ithaca
tie 15) Nazareth
tie 15) Geneseo

17) Lynchburg (Va.)
18) St. Lawrence
19) Bowdoin (Maine)
20) Endicott (Mass.)


2010 Lacrosse Magazine Div. III Preseason Poll

1) Cortland
2) Stevenson (Md.)
3) Gettysburg (Pa.)
4) Haverford (Pa.)
5) Salisbury (Md.)

6) Denison (Ohio)
7) Roanoke (Va.)
8) Middlebury (Vt.)
9) Western New England (Mass.)
10) Cabrini (Pa.)

11) Tufts (Mass.)
12) Washington & Lee (Va.)
13) Wesleyan (Conn.)
14) Ithaca
15) Lynchburg (Va.)

16) St. Lawrence
17) Nazareth
18) Washington (Md.)
19) Geneseo
20) St. John Fisher