The William and Mary field hockey entered the national polls for the first time this season, earning a No. 20 ranking in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Coaches Poll released Tuesday afternoon.  the Tribe was rewarded by the coaching panel after starting the year 7-1, with an upset victory over then-No. 11 Boston University last Friday night and a very good showing in a loss to then-No. 9 Virginia last Tuesday.

In addition to the coaches poll mention, W&M is also ranked 23rd in the first NCAA RPI release of the season, second-best among all Colonial Athletic Association teams.  The RPI, which is used to help select and seed the NCAA Tournament field at the end of the season, is calculated from the Tribe's won-loss record, the records of its opponents, and the record of the opponents of those opponents.  W&M has five games left this season against four schools that are rated higher, including third-rated Northeastern.

This is the first time that William and Mary has appeared in the national coaches poll since the Oct. 10, 2006 release, when the Tribe was ranked 19th following an 8-5 start to the year.  The first opportunity for W&M to defend or improve its rank comes this weekend in Boston, as the Tribe opens CAA play against No. 8 Northeastern on Friday at 7 p.m.