Coker hosts NCAA Regional Soccer Tourney

Cobra soccer players along with some supporters gathered to watch the NCAA Division II Tournament seeding announcements on Monday night. Coker was named the region's top seed and also will host the first round of the tourney beginning on Friday in Hartsville.


The following is a news release from Christian Stryker, Coker College Sports Information Director about the upcoming NCAA Division 2 soccer tournament:

November 7, 2011

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Coker College has been selected as the top seed and host for this week's NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Men's Soccer Tournament. One of just 32 teams selected nationwide, the Cobras will host the first and second round of the tournament with matches being played on Friday, Nov. 11 and Sunday, Nov. 13.

Coker, who is ranked No. 5 in the latest National Collegiate Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) national poll, will face the winner of the opening round match between the #4 seed Mars Hill College and the #5 seed the University of Montevallo on Friday at 7 p.m.

The other first round match will feature the #2 seed Flagler College against the winner of the #3 seed Anderson University versus the #6 seed Lees-McRae College on Friday at 4:30 p.m.

The winning teams from the first round will advance to play the second round game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. All first and second round games will be played at the Coker Soccer Field.

The regional winner advances to the quarterfinal round of the tournament to be held on Saturday, Nov. 19 at a to be determined site.

One of the toughest regions in the nation, the Southeast Regional features four teams ranked in Top 25: No. 5 Coker, No. 11 Anderson, No. 19 Flagler and No. 25 Mars Hill.

This is Coker's first trip to the NCAA Tournament and their first time hosting an NCAA Regional in any sport.

The Regular Season and Conference Carolinas Tournament Champions, the Cobras have only played one of the six teams in the regional during the regular season, Lees-McRae. Coker was 1-1 against Lees-McRae during the regular season, including a 1-0 win over the Bobcats on Sunday to capture the conference tournament championship.


TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 9- Games played at higher seed

#3 Anderson University vs. #6 Lees-McRae College

#4 Mars Hill College vs. #5 University of Montevallo

FRIDAY, NOV. 11

Game #1 4:30 p.m. #2 Flagler College vs. Winner of #3/#6

Game #2 7:00 p.m. #1 Coker College vs. Winner of #4/#5

SUNDAY, NOV. 13

Game #3 1:00 p.m. Winner of Game #1 vs. Winner of Game #2

For more information, scores and highlights from the 2011 NCAA Southeast Regional Tournament visit the Coker Athletics website www.cokercobras.com.

Coker College Cobras are Soccer Champs

Conference Champions -- The Coker College Cobra Men's Soccer Team





Eric, keeping the ball away...











Noah (21) hit the game winning goal!












Dr. Cathy Cuppett sitting behind her roast of the Bobcats as the game began.





Coker was ranked Number One in the Southeast and fifth in the nation in Division 2 and it looks like they should move up to Number One as the NCAA Regionals take shape. Coker knocked off the only conference team to beat them this year with a 1-nil victory over Lees McRae on Sunday afternoon. Noah Lassell put in the game winner from about thirty yards out in an amazing play.

There is no question that an athletic Conference Championship electrifies the campus. Dr. Robert Wyatt, who is at as many games as he can make, was joined this afternoon by every stakeholder group in the Coker Community from Mayor Mel Pennington to alumni soccer players to Coker staff, Coker faculty, Coker retirees and most importantly STUDENTS and more STUDENTS.

Go Cobras -- Now let's win the NCAA Tournament!!

Coker Soccer wins first conference title

The Coker College Men's soccer team will begin play in the Carolinas Conference Tournament on the Coker campus at 7 p.m. Tuesday night. For the first time ever, Coker is going into the Championship series as the Conference Champions as they topped St. Andrews 3-0 on Saturday evening. The team enjoyed celebrating following that victory as the video on this page shows. Coach Paul Leese has been aiming for this goal since taking over the reins of the Coker men's team three years ago. His wife and baby were on hand to watch this first conference championship.(photo)

Cobras open Men's Soccer with win over FMU

The Coker College Men's soccer team opened the 2010 season with a 1-0 win over the Patriots of Francis Marion University on Thursday. Rommel Fondin had the winning goal on a penalty kick in the first half. The story from Coker Sports Information is on this link.

Coker Soccer Wins Conference Championship and Coker Basketball Plays Division 1 Pitt

The Coker College men's soccer team had an amazing week as they won three games capping the success with the Conference Carolinas Championship on Sunday afternoon before one of the largest crowds ever to watch Coker soccer. Coker and Belmont Abbey were tied a 0-0 after regulation and after the first overtime and after the second overtime. The penalty kicks decided the game with Abbey missing after Coker converted and the 0-0 goes down as a 6-5 win for Coker in a hard-played match by both schools. Jubilation would be a good word to describe the feelings of the players and the fans as Coker has had quite possibly the best season in men's soccer history. It was really good to see former Coker players in the fan section.

BASKETBALL
The Coker Men's basketball team opened their 2009-2010 season with a game in Pittsburgh, PA against Division I Pitt. The game generated a great deal of enthusiasm among both players and fans and while Coker came out on the short end of the score, Facebook comments from students said this was a great trip. The game generated some good publicity in the Pittsburgh papers as the reuniting of Coach Dan Schmotzer with some of his TCU friends from the old days made good feature material for the reporters.

Volleyball
On the women's side, the Coker Volleyball Team ended their season over the weekend with a victory over Queens of Charlotte.