Lions soccer (16-5-1) was named the 13th best team in the country according to the National Soccer Coaches' Association of America (NSCAA) final postseason ranking.
The honor comes at the conclusion of a 2014 season in which A&M-Commerce made only their third trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in school history. The Lions also claimed their first LSC Tournament title in a decade, and won both the Tournament and regular season in the same year for only the second time in school history.
Head coach Neil Piper's squad outscored opponents 37-16 on the season, and produced the program's fourth All-American in school-history, as forward Savannah Henderson claimed Second Team veneration for her 13 goal, 7 assist campaign. The Lions finished the season on a nine-game unbeaten streak, as their game against Colorado School of Mines finished in a 1-1 tie in which the Orediggers managed to advance on PKs.
With their No. 13 ranking, the 2014 Lions became the second-highest-rated A&M-Commerce squad. Only the 1999 iteration of the team achieved a higher ranking, No. 6 overall, as they advanced to the Elite Eight before at last falling to the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos 2-1.
Elsewhere in the South Central Region, the Orediggers (16-2-6) of the RMAC, who knocked the Lions out and advanced as deep as the Final Four, received the highest ranking in the region at No. 4. St. Edward's (15-5) of the Heartland Conference also made an appearance on the list at No. 24. Though no other Lone Star Conference representative cracked the Top 25, Angelo State (16-5-1) was right on the cusp, receiving six votes.
The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) is an organization of American soccer coaches, founded in 1941. It is the largest coaching organization in the world, with more than 22,000 members.