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Bobcats ranked seventh in poll
BANNER ELK — The Lees-McRae men’s soccer team finished the 2007 season as the seventh ranked team in NCAA Division II, according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas final post season poll.

The final post season ranking of seventh in the nation is the best in program history, topping the Bobcats ranking of 22nd in 2002.

In a storybook season, coach Chris Whalley led the Bobcats to a number of program firsts in just his third year as head coach. The Bobcats, who finished the season with a 21-2-1 record, earned their first ever trip to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championships, defeating Queens of Charlotte (3-0) and Lander (1-0), before falling to University of Montevallo in Elite Eight action.

Before qualifying for the NCAA Championships, the Bobcats earned their first Conference Carolinas Regular Season Championship since 2001 and their first Tournament Championship since 2003. The conference double is also the first time in history that a team from Conference Carolinas, or the former Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference, has claimed both the regular season and tournament championship in the same season.

The Bobcats’ 21 wins in 2007 is the best in program history.

After starting the season unranked, the Bobcats cracked the NSCAA/adidas poll after the second week of the season, entering the Top 25 ranked 19 after a 4-0 start. After a 1-0-1 week defeating Erskine and tying No. 15 Clayton State, the Bobcats moved up to No 11, a program best at the time.

Following a heartbreaking last minute 1-0 loss in double overtime to conference foe Anderson, the Bobcats dropped to No. 18 in the poll with a 5-1-1 record. The Bobcats would respond by winning a program record 16 consecutive games, jumping to No. 7 to crack to the top 10 for the first time after week five.

Catapulting the Bobcats through the national rankings, the streak was started by three consecutive shutouts, moving the Bobcats to No. 3 after week six and up one to number two after week seven. The Bobcats would hold the No. 2 ranking; the program’s new all time best through weeks eight, nine and ten and into the NCAA Tournament.

“I am extremely proud of the boys and what we were able to accomplish this past season,” Whally said. “We set some goals for ourselves at the beginning of the season, playing in November and being one of the top ten teams in the nation are just two. I am proud of our team, the sacrifices they have made and the hard work that they have put in. While we’re very disappointed that our season came to an end in the quarterfinals of the national championships, at the end of the day we’re all pleased with our season.”