BANNER ELK, North Carolina – The 2017 season came to a heartbreaking end for the women’s soccer team at Lee’s McRae College. The Bobcats found themselves on the wrong side of 1-0 game at Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C., in the Conference Carolinas championship game.
However, for former Richmond Senior High School Lady Raider standout Cassie McFayden, reaching the title game was the highlight of her freshmen year at Lees-McRae.
“My favorite moment would be advancing in the final four to the championship game against Limestone,” McFayden recalled in an exclusive interview with the Richmond Observer. “I got to play in a championship college soccer game. As a freshman, that experience was something I wasn’t expecting.”
McFayden committed to Lees-McRae on National Signing Day (Feb. 1, 2017) just prior to the start of her senior season at Richmond. In her final season as a Lady Raider, McFayden scored a team-high 30 goals.
The Lady Raiders ended with a 14-6-2 record in 2017, the most wins for the program since going 15-5-1 in 2005. She was instrumental in the program’s turnaround that continued without her in 2018, when the Lady Raiders finished with a program-high 17 victories.
McFayden’s transition from high school to college was not without its challenges.
“Time management and the work load that my classes carry were my biggest challenges,” she explained. “Being a nursing major, our professors expect a lot out of us and make sure we do more than expected. It’s harder being an athlete because you are constantly working out, training or doing school work. It’s hard to find the time for your studies and other enjoyable things, but it’s manageable.”
The shift from high school to college also came with noticeable changes in the game itself.
“The game is totally different at the college level,” she said. “It’s much faster and much more physical. The coaches expect a lot out of you. When you step on the field, you better preform like you are supposed to or you will not step on the field until you improve.”
Leading the Bobcats is head coach Alberto “Kiko” Magaña. Magaña has coached the Lees-McRae women’s soccer team for the last three seasons and was Bobcat soccer player himself just over a decade ago.
“He is a great coach,” McFayden said of Magaña. “He pushes you until you can’t be pushed anymore and that’s what I want. Kiko has made it very easy my freshman year to not become homesick. With all the soccer related things that we have going on during the fall, it helps us keep our mind off of home.”
Assisting Magaña is Erin Barcal. Like Magaña, Barcal is a former Bobcat, but unlike Magaña, she didn’t have to bring her experience back to her alma mater – she just never left. Just two short seasons ago, Barcal donned the Bobcat green and gold and was on the field battling for control of the ball. Now she is still a Bobcat, but in a different capacity.
“Our assistant coach, Erin Barcal, has done a great job with the little time that she has been a coach at Lees McRae,” McFayden shared. “She has been a great model for us and has helped us with becoming not only better soccer players, but better people.
“Kiko and Erin have been great coaches my freshman year and I’m really excited to see what’s in store for this next season.”
In her teammates, McFayden has found additional leadership, friendship, and a source of spiritual growth. “Every year, during the preseason, we run up Sugar Mountain for a former member of our team that passed,” McFayden revealed. “This challenging experience was so great. It showed me how much I love my team and how hard I have worked towards becoming a college soccer player and being on a collegiate team.
“Alexis Feely, known as ‘Lex’, became my role model during the first training session we had,” McFayden continued. “Her work ethic and eagerness to get better was something I have always had but wanted more of. Lex and I share a lot of the same characteristics.
“Katie Jo Daniel, known as KJ, also became one of my role models during my first training sessions and also out of the soccer atmosphere. She has always been there for me when things got a little rough. She has always encouraged me and helped me to grow my relationship with God. KJ and I play the same position and our friendship has grown a lot in my freshman year.”
McFayden’s commitment to God, to her team and to the sport she loves have not gone unnoticed. She works hard both on the field and in the classroom. As a result, she joined several of her teammates on the Conference Carolinas Presidential Honor Roll in the fall of 2017.
“Cassie is a go-getter,” Barcal stated in an email to the Richmond Observer. “She is extremely hard working and exhibits the character we want to promote in our student athletes here at Lees-McRae. Her ability to bring the team together through soccer and Christian worship is fantastic. We can count on her to do a great job both on and off the pitch -- from the classroom, weight room, soccer field, and social life, we know she will do us all proud at Lees-McRae Athletics.
“I am excited to see her continue to evolve into a leader and strengthen her walk with Christ, her physical, mental and soccer ability throughout the next three years and consider myself honored to call her one of our players.”
Along the way, several people have helped mold McFayden into the athlete that she is, and she is grateful to everyone who made her dream of playing soccer in college a reality.
“Thank you Bennie (Howard) for everything and for being a great coach throughout high school,” McFayden noted. “I want give a shout out to Errol Hood for all of the intense training he gave me to prepare me to advance to the college level. I also want to thank Jason Graham and Ashleigh and Jonathan Buie for all of the help they gave me with becoming a better player.”
Ashleigh Buie is the girls soccer coach at Hamlet Middle School. Her Lady Red Rams recently won the 2018 conference title by defeating the Rockingham Middle School Lady Rockets.
“I like to joke that Cassie and I started off as enemies since she played for Rockingham and I knew she was our major competition,” Buie said of McFayden. “In reality, when we formed our club team the ‘Rampage’, I knew we had to have her play with us. We always knew Cassie had something special.
“Cassie was one of the most driven athletes I have ever had the privilege of coaching,” Buie continued. “She is a dominant force on the field. She takes control and keeps the team in check. Off the field, she is the sweetest, most thoughtful person you will ever meet. Honestly, I just love her. She knows she holds a special place in my heart. It was an honor to have been her coach and I am beyond proud of not only the player that she is, but for the person she is.”
With the 2018 season right around the corner, McFayden is excited and wants to have a successful year.
“I want my team to work together and love the game as much as we can,” she said. “Advancing in the final four to the championship game is something that I want to experience again. I have a really good feeling that we are going to do great things this year.”
In closing, McFayden wanted to say thank you to her biggest supporters.
“I want thank my parents for giving me the opportunity to experience college and the opportunity to play soccer at the college level,” she concluded. “They sacrifice a lot for me and I’m thankful to have them as my parents.”
