After getting votes in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll in four weeks last season and three weeks this spring, Frostburg State finally broke into the top 20.
One of eight unbeaten teams in Division III, the Bobcats (12-0) moved into the No. 19 spot in Monday's edition of the USILA poll, and the accomplishment is welcomed validation for coach Tommy Pearce, who started the program for the 2011 campaign.
"It was one of our team's goals coming into the season with us last year getting some votes," he said Thursday morning. "We've been talking about building improvement and measuring that improvement by achieving certain things. So coming into the year, we always talk about things that we've never done before, and getting into the top 20 was one of those goals. It was great for the guys to reach a goal that they had set for themselves."
Still, Frostburg State has plenty of other goals – such as capturing the top seed in the Capital Athletic Conference tournament, winning the tournament, and earning a berth in the NCAA tournament. That's why Pearce stressed that the players and coaches can't be content with being ranked.
"We also talked about how that doesn't guarantee anything for you going forward," he said. "We still have a lot of conference games left, and our conference is tough now. There are a lot of games, and you've got to get some good wins to put yourself in a position to maybe host a conference tournament game or two. There's a lot of implications with what we have left. So it was great, and I don't want to take away anything from it. But it doesn't guarantee anything for us."
The Bobcats (3-0 in conference) can further solidify their status as a contender in the league with a victory at York on Saturday. The Spartans (7-4, 3-0) won last year's regular-season meeting, 8-7, and Pearce has frequently cited that loss as a sign that the program still has peaks to conquer.
"It was a one-goal game last year, and we think we did a pretty good job of defending them," he said. "We did not do a great job of scoring goals, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that they have a really great goalie. Their faceoff guy is tough, so you might not get as many possessions in the game. There's a lot of little things, and people are expecting it to be another close game, and hopefully, we can come out on top this time."