Coming off a 20-2 season last fall, and with seven starters returning, the UMW field hockey team ranks sixth in the nation in the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association's national preseason poll, released Tuesday.

The Eagles, who finished third in last year's final national poll, received 667 total points in the poll. UMW's 2013 opponents ranked nationally include CAC foes Salisbury (5th) and Christopher Newport (9th), and Lynchburg College (13th).

The Eagles open the season on Saturday at Rhodes College at 11:00 am.

2013 Penn Monto / NFHCA Division III Preseason Poll

Institution - Points

(first place votes in parentheses)

1. Tufts University 895 (29)

2. Montclair State University 840 (4)

3. Middlebury College 748 (9)

4. Bowdoin College 741 (5)

5. Salisbury University 689

6. University of Mary Washington 667

7. Franklin & Marshall College 540

8. Messiah College 538

9. Christopher Newport University 441

10. William Smith College 439

11. DePauw University 426

12. The College of New Jersey 408 (1)

13. Lynchburg College 398

14. Rowan University 278

15. Skidmore College 263

16. Amherst College 238

17. Eastern University 215

18. University of Rochester 214

19. Trinity College 167

20. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 166

Also Receiving Votes: Catholic University (114), Ursinus College (83), Haverford College (80), Utica College (74), SUNY Cortland (73).

This poll is available on the NFHCA website at www.nfhca.org. The first regular season poll will be released on Tuesday, September 10, 2013. The Penn Monto / NFHCA Division III National Coaches Poll has no bearing on selection to the 2013 NCAA Division III Championship field.