Frostburg State achieved unprecedented success in 2014. So what will the program do for an encore?
There's a sense among the Bobcats that after a record-setting season in which they won a program-high 13 games and earned their first Capital Athletic Conference tournament victory, the program could improve.
"Before our guys left at the end of the season last year, we got everybody in a room and said, 'Look, let's start thinking about next year right now and let's set our goals so that we know what we're working toward all summer and coming into the fall and spring,'" coach Tommy Pearce recalled. "We lost to [league rival] York by one goal and we were tied with Mary Washington late. We think we were really close to being one of the teams in our conference to go to the NCAA tournament last year.
"So, right away, that was the goal they set, and that's what they've been working toward. Of our five losses, it was Salisbury twice, which went to a national championship; Washington College, which went to the national semifinals; and York and Mary Washington, which we were in both of those games. If we could manage to win a one-goal game against York or pull it out against Mary Washington, we think the next step for us is a very, very small margin."
So far, Pearce likes what he has seen. He said the players have returned in good conditioning after the offseason and fall workouts, and practices have generally gone smoothly.
Although Frostburg State did graduate a sizable senior class that included five starters, the team also returns seven of its top nine scorers and has developed depth on defense. That's why Pearce and the players have set high standards for the spring.
"We talk about continuing to accomplish firsts, and the only teams we didn't beat in our conference last year were all top 20 teams – Mary Washington and York and Salisbury, and we lost to Washington College," he said. "So the next step for us is to beat a top 20 team and become a top 20 team in the country and be in the discussion for the NCAA tournament. Those are the goals our players have set for themselves."