<p>COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. &mdash; League coaches chose the top-ranked Fort Lewis College men&rsquo;s soccer team to repeat as Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champions in 2012, RMAC Assistant Commissioner Eric Danner announced today.</p> <p>During the first 16 seasons that the conference has sponsored men&rsquo;s soccer, the Skyhawks have won nine RMAC regular season titles and 11 RMAC postseason tournaments.</p> <p>The Skyhawks were also picked to defend their 2011 NCAA Division II championship in last Tuesday&rsquo;s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Continental Tire preseason rankings.</p> <p>&ldquo;Obviously it&rsquo;s an honor for our fellow competitors in the RMAC to select us as the favorites for the upcoming season,&rdquo; said fourth-year FLC head coach Oige Kennedy. &ldquo;The conference is one of the very best in the country and year-in, year-out we see teams featuring on a national level. It&rsquo;s a league where on any given weekend anyone can get a result over you and we feel it&rsquo;s the best conference in the country to play in to help you prepare for postseason play. I think this ranking will provide for a bigger target on our backs this year, but our players will be prepared to thrive in that type of pressure.&rdquo;</p> <p>In addition to being ranked No. 1 in the RMAC preseason coaches&rsquo; poll, four FLC players were named to the Preseason All-RMAC team: Alberto Capdepon, Casey Dean, Kosta Kordistos, and Johannes Sander.</p> <p>&ldquo;The individual players being selected is something well-deserved for them,&rdquo; said Kennedy. &ldquo;They have worked hard since their arrival in Durango. They are looking forward to the season getting underway and beginning a new legacy.</p> <p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to see Casey and Johannes get some recognition,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;They have been here for a few years and we look to them to help lead this new group of players.&rdquo;</p> <p>Capdepon, a 5-foot-10, 160-lb. sophomore midfielder from Almoradi, Spain, amassed 14 total points on 3 goals and 8 assists in 2011. He was named to the Daktronics All-Central Region second team and the RMAC All-Tournament team.</p> <p>Dean, a 5-foot-10, 155-lb. junior from Eldorado High School in Albuquerque, N.M., ranked second on the team a year ago with 10 assists, adding a pair of goals. He split time between forward and outside midfielder in 2011.</p> <p>Kordistos, a 5-foot-9, 150-lb. sophomore forward from Lippstadt, Germany, was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the NCAA Division II Final Four a year ago. He was also named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 13, 2011 and to the College Soccer 360.com Primetime Performers Honor Roll on Dec. 16, 2011. Despite missing 13 games due to a partially-torn ACL, Kordistos still finished the season with 18 points on a team-high 9 goals.</p> <p>Sander, a 6-foot-2 sophomore defender from Erwite, Germany, was named to the Capital One Academic All-District 7 team and the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll in 2011. He scored one goal &mdash; a game-winner in a 4-1 win at Colorado Mines on September 30, 2011.</p> <p>Colorado Mines forward Tesho Akindele was named the Preseason RMAC Player of the Year, while Metro State defender Andrew Mejia was named Preseason RMAC Defensive Player of the Year.</p> <p>Fort Lewis posted a 24-1-0 overall record and went 13-1-0 in RMAC games in 2011, winning the NCAA Division II national championship when Berekk Blackwell headed home a corner kick in the second minute of overtime in a 3-2 win over Lynn. In addition to their third golden NCAA trophy since 2005, the Skyhawks also won NCAA-II Central Region, RMAC regular season, and RMAC tournament titles.</p> <p>The complete coaches&rsquo; poll, with final first place votes, total points, 2011 RMAC record, and 2011 overall record, follows: Fort Lewis, 8 first place votes, 8 points, 13-1 RMAC, 24-1 overall; Colorado Mines, 1 first place vote, 18 points, 8-5-1 RMAC, 11-7-1 overall; Regis, 23 points, 10-3-1 RMAC, 13-4-1 overall; Metro State, 25 points, 10-4 RMAC, 14-7-1 overall; UC-Colorado Springs, 42 points, 7-6-1 RMAC, 9-9-1 overall; Colorado State-Pueblo, 43 points, 5-7-2 RMAC, 5-11-3 overall; Colorado Mesa, 44 points, 5-9 RMAC, 5-12-1 overall; Adams State, 60 points, 2-11-1 RMAC, 3-12-2 overall; and Colorado Christian, 61 points, 0-14 RMAC, 0-18-1 overall.</p> <p>The Skyhawks hold a pair of exhibition games at Dirks Field: against Otero Junior College at 11 a.m. on Sunday, August 19 and the annual Alumni Game at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 25.</p> <p>Fort Lewis opens its 2012 campaign in a critical regional showdown against No. 10 Incarnate Word at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, August 31 in Golden, Colo. The Skyhawks beat the Cardinals 1-0 in the NCAA quarterfinals last November.</p> <p>FLC&rsquo;s regular season home opener is against arch-rival Colorado Mines at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 16 at Dirks Field.</p>