South Easton, Mass. – The Stonehill College Skyhawks are predicted to win the 2009 Northeast-10 Women's Lacrosse Regular Season title for the 11th straight year as voted by the conference's 11 head coaches. Stonehill received five first-place votes and 112 points in the preseason poll.

Last year the Skyhawks finished a perfect 10-0 in conference play to claim their tenth straight regular season title and went on to win their ninth straight NE-10 Championship. Stonehill enters this season riding a 78-game winning streak in conference play dating back to April of 2000.

The University of New Haven received three first-place votes and 106 points are predicted to finish second. The Chargers, competing in the Northeast-10 for the first time, finished 14-3 overall and 3-3 in the East Coast Conference last season. After advancing to the conference championship final a year ago, Southern New Hampshire (12-6, 9-1 NE-10) is predicted to finish third after receiving two first-place votes and 102 points. Merrimack College (8-6, 7-3 NE-10) picked up the final first-place vote with 82 points for a fourth place finish.

Bentley University (7-10, 6-4 NE-10) received 79 points and edged out Saint Michael's College (9-7, 6-4 NE-10) by one point for a fifth place finish. The Purple Knight received 78 points and is picked to finish sixth. Saint Anselm College (5-10, 4-6 NE-10) is next in the poll with 51 points and is selected to finish seventh in the poll. Southern Connecticut State University (3-12, 3-7 NE-10) is picked to finish eighth with 39 points, slightly ahead of Franklin Pierce University (3-13, 1-9 NE-10) who received 37 points.

Assumption College (2-14, 2-8 NE-10) picked up 26 points, while American International College (0-16, 0-10 NE-10) received 14 points and are predicted to finish tenth and eleventh respectively.

The 2009 season gets underway on Sunday, March 1 with American International traveling to Adelphi. The first NE-10 conference matchup is slated for Friday, March 13 with New Having hosting Merrimack. The Northeast-10 Championship begins Wednesday, April 29 with quarterfinal action and will conclude May 2-3 with the semifinals and championship final.

With 15 member institutions the Northeast-10 is the second largest NCAA Division II athletic conference in the nation. Its 23 championship sports provide athletic opportunities for over 5,500 student-athletes, the largest such program of any Division II conference.

Rk  Team (1st)                 Points   2008 Record
 1. Stonehill (5)                112    14-3, 10-0
 2. New Haven (3)                106    14-3,  3-3*
 3. Southern New Hampshire (2)   102    12-6,  9-1
 4. Merrimack (1)                 82     8-6,  7-3
 5. Bentley                       79    7-10,  6-4
 6. Saint Michael's               78     9-7,  6-4
 7. Saint Anselm                  51    5-10,  4-6
 8. Southern Connecticut          39    3-12,  3-7
 9. Franklin Pierce               37    3-13,  1-9
10. Assumption                    26    2-14,  2-8
11. AIC                           14    0-16, 0-10

*Member of East Coast Conference

2009-02-20