KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team (10-0-0 overall, 6-0-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) is ranked No. 1  in NCAA Division II, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and Continental Tire announced earlier today.

The Skyhawks, ranked No. 2 a week ago, won a pair of road games last week, defeating No. 22 Colorado Mines 4-1 last Friday and Colorado Christian 3-1 Sunday.

“Obviously, getting the current number one ranking in the nation is a huge honor for the program and reflects the hard work that has been done by the players and the coaching staff to this point in the season,” said third-year FLC head coach Oige Kennedy. “However, we are highly aware that we have to continue to work hard to keep the ranking and to keep our place at the top of the RMAC, which is our primary aim for the season. We are all looking forward to another tough weekend on the road with games against Metro State and UCCS and hope we can get a big support for both games that will have a big impact on our 2011 season.”

Being ranked No. 1 is nothing new to the Skyhawks, who perennial compete for NCAA Division II championships in men’s soccer. Fort Lewis won the 2005 and 2009 national titles and finished second in the nation in 1999 and 2006. FLC was last ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll prior to the start of the 2010 season.

Fort Lewis will immediately have their No. 1 ranking tested, as they travel to No. 14 Metro State (7-2-1, 5-1-0) at 3:30 p.m. Friday and to UC-Colorado Springs (5-5-0, 3-3-0) at noon Sunday. The meeting is the first of the year between the Skyhawks and Roadrunners. UCCS gave FLC its biggest scare of the season in a 1-0 Skyhawk win in Durango on Sept. 25.

The RMAC placed three teams in the Top 25 in the sixth coaches’ poll of the season: No. 1 Fort Lewis, No. 14 Metro State, and No. 22 Colorado Mines (7-3-0, 5-2-0). Regis (5-2-1, 2-2-1) also received votes.

The Skyhawks rank highly amongst NCAA Division II leaders. Senior midfielder Thomas Hoang leads the nation in assists (10) and assists per game (1.0). Senior goalkeeper Ryan Wirth ranks fourth in goals against average (0.40).

As a team, Fort Lewis is tied for the national lead in winning percentage (1.000), ranks third in goals against average (0.40), third in shutout percentage (0.75), fourth in total goals (29), ninth in team shutout percentage (0.6), and tenth in scoring offense (2.9 goals per game).

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