Penn State men’s lacrosse will enter the first week of the 2020 season as the No. 2 team in the country after it earned the second-highest placement in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association’s preseason Coaches Poll, which was released Tuesday afternoon.

Virginia, the defending national champion, checks in at No. 1 in the USILA poll, while Yale, which defeated Penn State in the Final Four, currently sits behind the Nittany Lions at No. 3.

Penn State largely kept a high spot thanks to returning the majority of its talented roster, which is headed by Grant Ament, who recorded an NCAA-record 96 assists in 2019, and Mac O’Keefe, who tallied 78 goals last season.

The Nittany Lions quickly rose rankings after leading the country with 17.94 goals per game in 2019, which earned them the No. 1 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Penn State went all the way to the Final Four at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia before falling to Yale 21-17 in the semifinals.

Earlier this offseason, the team earned the No. 1 spot in the Nike/US Lacrosse preseason poll, which came out back in December.

Penn State will open its season at home against Lafayette on Saturday, February 1. The Nittany Lions’ matchup against the Leopards will kick off at noon.