BALTIMORE -- The University of Delaware men’s lacrosse squad has earned its second Top 25 pre-season notice of the season as the Blue Hens were picked No. 20 in the Inside Lacrosse/Faceoff Yearbook poll announced recently.

In addition to the national recognition, the Blue Hens were picked to finish second in the Colonial Athletic Association standings and had three players - junior attackman Curtis Dickson, junior midfielder Martin Cahill, and sophomore defender Pat Dowling (at right) - named to the pre-season all-conference team.

The selections were made by a committee of Inside Lacrosse staff members and contributors with input from college coaches.

Delaware, which was also picked No. 23 in the LAXnews.com poll announced in December, returns 19 letterwinners and four all-conference performers from last year’s team that went 9-7 and advanced to the CAA semifinals for the fifth straight season.The Blue Hens will open the 2009 season Feb. 7 at home against Saints Joseph’s.

Virginia, the 2006 national champion and a 2008 national semifinalist, was the pre-season No. 1 pick followed by 2008 national champion Syracuse, Maryland, Cornell, and Johns Hopkins in the top five. Georgetown was picked sixth followed by Duke, North Carolina, Notre Dame, and UMBC.

Navy was at No. 11 followed by Albany, Brown, Princeton, Hofstra, Denver, Colgate, Bucknell, Loyola, Delaware, Ohio State, Army, Drexel, Penn State, and Stony Brook.

The Blue Hens, who will be gunning for their school-record sixth straight winning season this spring, will play seven Top 25 teams, including games vs. No. 6 Georgetown (Mar. 11 at home), No. 10 UMBC (Feb. 14 at home), No. 12 Albany (March 6 at Albany, N.Y.), No. 13 Brown (Mar. 28 at Providence, R.I.), No. 15 Hofstra (Apr. 4 at the Big City Classic at Giants Stadium), No. 22 Drexel (Apr. 25 in Philadelphia), and No. 25 Stony Brook (March 14 at Stony Brook, N.Y.).

Defending champion Hofstra was picked as the pre-season favorite in the CAA followed by Delaware, Drexel, Towson, Villanova, Sacred Heart, and Robert Morris.

Delaware will feature one of the CAA’s most prolific scoring combinations in Dickson and Cahill while 2008 CAA All-Rookie selections Dowling and Tim Langmaid will spearhead the defense. Other top returning players are senior midfielder Beau Davis (13 goals) and sophomore midfielder and faceoff specialist Anthony Ruiz (four goals, 52.2 faceoff efficiency).

Dickson earned All-American honors a year ago when he led the team with 46 goals while Cahill was a first team All-CAA pick when he contributed 29 goals last spring. This year’s recruiting class features four high school All-Americans.

Delaware head coach Bob Shillinglaw, a two-time national Coach of the Year, will begin his 31st season as head coach of the Blue Hens and will need just one win to earn his 250th victory at UD.

AGATE:

Inside Lacrosse/Faceoff Magazine Pre-Season NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Poll: 1. Virginia; 2. Syracuse; 3. Maryland; 4. Cornell; 5. Johns Hopkins; 6. Georgetown; 7. Duke; 8. North Carolina; 9. Notre Dame; 10. UMBC; 11. Navy; 12. Albany; 13. Brown; ;14. Princeton; 15. Hofstra; 16. Denver; 17. Colgate; 18. Bucknell; 19. Loyola; 20. Delaware; 21. Ohio State; 22. Army; 23. Drexel; 24. Penn State; 25. Stony Brook.

Inside Lacrosse/Faceoff Magazine Pre-Season Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Lacrosse Poll: 1. Hofstra; 2. Delaware; 3. Drexel; 4. Towson; 5. Villanova; 6. Sacred Heart & Robert Morris

Pre-Season All-CAA Team:
Attack - Curtis Dickson (Delaware), Jay Card (Hofstra); Colin Ambler (Drexel)
Midfield - Martin Cahill (Delaware), Anthony Muscarella (Hofstra), Greg Casey (Drexel)
Faceoff - Mitch Rosensweig (Towson)
Longstick Midfield - Steve Prifte (Hofstra)
Defense - Mike McCormick (Drexel), Pat Dowling (Delaware), Christian Scuderi (Hofstra)
Goalkeeper - Danny Orlando (Hofstra).