NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The start of the men's lacrosse season is a little over a month away, and the preseason prognostications are starting to come out. USA Lacrosse has released its preseason top-20 national poll, and Yale comes in at No. 10.
 
Defending national champion Notre Dame sits atop the poll followed by Duke and Virginia. Six of the Bulldogs' 14 regular-season games will come against teams in the poll – No. 4 Penn State, No. 7 Cornell, No. 11 Denver, No. 14 Princeton, No. 17 Penn and No. 18 Boston University.
 
Yale returns its top nine scorers from last year's team that finished 9-6 overall, advanced to the championship game of the Ivy League Tournament and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Included among the many returners are first team All-Ivy selections – Matt Brandau, Michael Alexander and Jack Stuzin.
 
The Bulldogs open the season by hosting Villanova on Feb. 17.