Lacrosse opens season after earning votes in national poll

As the Northwestern lacrosse team begins its 2004 season today, it can take pride in senior Courtney Koester and the fact that the team received votes in a preseason top-20 national poll last week.

The American Lacrosse Conference named Koester to its preseason All-Conference Team. The midfielder was named to the regular All-Conference Team at the end of last season after earning a team-high 38 ground balls, 13 caused turnovers and 45 draw controls. Koester also notched the third-highest number of goals on the team with 19 in 2003.

Koester and her teammates travel to North Carolina for today’s conference contest against Davidson. Then the Wildcats will head to Durham, N.C., to face Duke in a Sunday nonconference game.

NU returns all of its starters from last season when the Cats finished 8-8 and spent some time ranked in the poll.

This year, the ALC coaches picked NU to finish fifth in the conference field of seven.

— Ariel Alexovich