November 6, 2010
1. VIRGINIA (16-2) Outstanding overall talent earns Virginia our top spot; excellent coaching from Dom Starsia and Marc Van Arsdale helps as well; the Cavs played hard through tragic circumstances in ’10; Ghitelman’s experience in the nets is a huge plus; will continue to play fast and push the ball.
2. NORTH CAROLINA (13-3) Reawakening of program continues under Head Coach Joe Breschi; continued influx of talent makes practice extremely competitive; Madalon and Restivo will battle for starting goalie, Tar Heels have won big games; next step is to advance to the Final Four.
3. MARYLAND (12-4) Top three temas in the College Beat poll are all ACC teams and the other is the defending National Champion which speaks volumes about how tough the conference really is; new Terp staff inherits 16 seniors with dominant players on both attack and defense; goalie experience and midfield scoring are the question marks.
4. SYRACUSE (13-2) The Orange had a 2007 5-8 record followed by 2008 NCAA Championship; 2010 1st round home playoff loss followed by what in 2011 is the big question? John Galoway in cage and LSM Smith are huge factors; who will run the offense and distribute is the second biggest question?
5. PRINCETON (11-5) Year 2 for Chris Bates’ as Head Coach; Tyler Fiorito in cage is big, athletic defense and more talented offensive players added to the mix helps; Tigers are favorite to win the Ivy.
6. HOFSTRA (9-5) Overall depth of CAA continues to improve making it crowded for Hofstra; adding three impact transfers to a senior team with two proven scorers in Jay Card & Jamie Lincoln; need to make more saves with greater consistency in the net.
7. CORNELL (12-6) DeLuca has been a top defensive coach and knows the system; solid in all phases; experienced Final Four team plus Rob Pannell on Attack make Cornell a solid Top 10 team.
8. NOTRE DAME (10-7) Hungry again after one goal NCAA final loss; plenty of returning talent plus the next Kemp in goal.
9. DUKE (16-4) After three seasons of five classes vs. opponents’ founds; loads of talent returns to now compete on a level playing field and defend their '10 Championship.
10. STONY BROOK (13-4) Rick Sowell was a great asset to Team USA; he bring same coaching to Stony Brook; this team gave the Cavaliers a great battle in ’10 quarterfinals; program is on a steady rise and this continues in 2011.
