Fort Lewis to host Metro State in NCAA playoffs

November 7, 2011

INDIANAPOLIS — After a one-year absence, the No. 3-ranked Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team (19-1-0) is back in the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Skyhawks earned the top seed in the Central Region and will host No. 21 Metro State (14-6-1) this Thursday at Dirks Field.

Complete details, including kickoff time and ticket prices, will be announced tomorrow.

Fort Lewis won the 2011 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season and postseason championships this year.

The Skyhawks won two of three meetings with the Roadrunners, including a 1-0 win in Denver on Oct. 7 and a 2-1 win in the RMAC tournament championship game yesterday at Dirks Field. Metro State gave the Skyhawks their only loss of the season when it beat FLC 1-0 in Durango on Oct. 14.

The Skyhawks lead the all-time series 29-16-4 with Metro State.

“It’s very tough to face the same team four times in one season,” said third-year FLC head coach Oige Kennedy, who was named the RMAC Coach of the Year last week. “We did it before in 2009 when we had to play Mines four times.

“We’ll see a different game for sure on Thursday,” he added. The Roadrunners sat out their leading scorer and 2011 RMAC Player of the Year Scott Grode in Sunday’s RMAC title bout due to injury. Kennedy expects the 17-goal scorer to be on the pitch this week.

Should Fort Lewis defeat Metro State, it will host the winner of Thursday’s South Central Region playoff game between No. 10 Incarnate Word (Texas) (13-2-3) and No. 4 Midwestern State (Texas) (13-3-1) on Sunday at Dirks Field. Incarnate Word and Midwestern State will play in San Antonio.

Fort Lewis earned its 11th NCAA men’s soccer tournament bid. The Skyhawks previously waltzed in the big dance from 1997-99, 2001, and 2004-2009. FLC won NCAA Division II national titles in 2005 and 2009 and were national runners-up in 1999 and 2006.

Additionally, the Fort Lewis women’s soccer team (14-2-4) will host NCAA Division II playoff games this week. On Friday afternoon, No. 16 Regis (14-5-0), seeded third, will face unranked and sixth seed Colorado Mesa (10-7-4) at Dirks Field. The winner of the first-round matchup will face Fort Lewis in the second round on Sunday.

Complete details for the women’s tournament, including kickoff times and ticket prices, will be announced tomorrow.

Fort Lewis is the only school in NCAA Division II to host both women’s and men’s soccer playoff games.