BALTIMORE – All eyes will be on the Gettysburg College women's lacrosse team this spring as both a national title contender and as the hosts of the 2010 NCAA Division II and III Women's Lacrosse Championships. The Bullets will head into the new season as a favorite for the DIII crown as the squad was picked third in the DIII preseason poll by Lacrosse Magazine.

A national semifinalist in three of the last four seasons, Gettysburg trailed only defending national champion and Centennial Conference rival Franklin & Marshall College and 2009 national runner-up Salisbury University in the poll put together by the Lax Magazine staff and released late last month.

The Bullets have a lot going for them heading into 2010 as noted by Lax Magazine writer Jac Coyne in his blog, “Women's DIII: The Real Deal.” The team returns nearly its entire lineup from last spring's semifinal finish and it could have home-field advantage if it makes another run in the NCAA tournament. Gettysburg will be the site of the national semifinals and finals on May 22-23.

Despite losing four All-Americans from the prior season, the Orange and Blue made an improbable run through the regular season and into the postseason in 2009. Gettysburg won its first 11 contests and posted a pair of wins in the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament before succumbing to Salisbury 11-10 in the national semis in Salem, Va. Twenty-two letterwinners and 11 starters are set to return this spring for Head Coach Carol Cantele, including Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) first-team All-Americans Hollis Stahl (Hightstown, N.J./Peddie School) and Nina Emala (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr School).

Gettysburg will be on the road for the early part of 2010 and will open at the University of Mary Washington on Feb. 25. The Bullets play their first conference tilt on March 6 at Washington (Md.) College before embarking on a four-game spring-break trip to San Antonio, Texas. After another conference road affair at Muhlenberg College on March 20, the squad finally plays on the friendly confines of Clark Field on March 23 against preseason No. 6 Middlebury College. Other games to note on the schedule include a trip to preseason No. 5 The College of New Jersey on April 3 and a showdown with defending national champ F&M on April 21 at Clark Field.