January 9, 2009
Trio of Preseason Rankings Pick Shoremen 8th

CHESTERTOWN, MD -- The Washington College men's lacrosse team has been picked eighth in the preseason Division III rankings of three lacrosse publications. Inside Lacrosse's Face-Off Yearbook, Lacrosse Magazine, and LAXnews have all slotted the Shoremen in the same spot among the nation's top 10 teams.

The Shoremen finished 2008 with a 14-4 overall record and a 7-1 mark in conference play. They earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the 28th time last spring and advanced to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals after defeating Lynchburg in the second round. Four 2008 All-Centennial Conference players return for the Shoremen: All-Centennial Conference first team and All-America honorable mention senior goalie Gordon Cohen (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan), All-Centennial Conference second team senior face-off specialist Thayer Damm (Huntingdon Valley, PA/LaSalle), and All-Centennial Conference honorable mentions senior attackman Jimmy Kielek (Baltimore, MD/Archbishop Curley) and senior midfielder Casey O'Connor (Crownsville, MD/Archbishop Spalding). Cohen and senior defenseman Sean Millham (Pasadena, MD/Mount St. Joseph) have been named this year's captains.

Washington opens its 2009 regular season at home on February 25th with a 4:00 p.m. non-conference game against Kean. The rest of the Shoremen's non-conference slate includes road games at Virginia Wesleyan, Messiah, and Hampden-Sydney, and home games against Washington and Lee, New England College (coached by former Shoreman Curtis Gilbert), and rival Salisbury University. The annual game against Salisbury, known as the "War on the Shore" and played for the Charles B. Clark Cup, will be held Saturday, April 25th, at 1:00 p.m. on Kibler Field at Roy Kirby, Jr. Stadium.