The NCAA Division II soccer tournament will have plenty of Colorado representatives after announcing the brackets for the men’s and women’s tournaments on Monday evening.

The day included overwhelming triumphs from Colorado School of Mines and Adams State College, and nailbiters for Metropolitan State College of Denver and Colorado Christian. All of them, however, ended with a mark in the win column.

Mines 5, Bemidji State 0: The Orediggers went on the road and dispatched the northern Minnesota side in convincing fashion.

The Orediggers, 3-0-0, got goals from Anna Evans, Megan Woodworth, Jelli Schira, Kendra Bulawa and an own goal from Bemidji. Penny Rodgers had two saves in keeping a clean sheet.

Mines, playing in Duluth, Minn., takes on Minnesota-Duluth on Sunday before returning home.

Grizzlies 5, Texas-Permian Basin 1: Adams State feasted on the Texas visitors, grabbing a 4-0 lead in little more than 15 minutes en route to a convincing victory.

Autumn Boyer and a hat trick from Jessica Hellweg put the Grizzlies (2-0-0) up early. Allie Mercado got the fifth in the second half after Permian Basin had pulled back a lone tally.

Cougars 2, Fort Hays State 1: Megan Gilchrist and Ciara Meredith fired Colorado Christian to a lead that solid goalkeeping managed to hold up after allowing a second half strike.

Thunderwolves 2, Angelo State 0: Savannah Thompson provided 10 saves and Morgan Purkey scored once in each half as CSU-Pueblo improved to 2-1-0 on the season.

Rangers 3, Winona State 1: Jordan Miller was all the offense the Rangers would need as her hat trick fueled a win for No. 25-ranked Regis University.

Opening the home campaign, the Rangers (3-0-0) built a three-goal lead on the strength of Miller’s scoring. The 12th-ranked Warriors managed a scored in the 83rd minute, but it was too little, too late to make it a game on the Regis Match Pitch.

Roadrunners 2, Minnesota State-Mankato 1: Metro State was outdueled and nearly gave away points at home before Becca Medina provided some last-minute heroics.

With less than three minutes remaining and less than a minute after the Minnesota visitors had pulled even, Medina launched a low, left-footed shot into the back of the net.

Aubrey Fondy’s goal in the 31st minute had put the Roadrunners (3-0-0) up early, and provided the chance for a late winner. Danielle Quigley pulled in seven saves for the Roadrunners, who were outshot 16-6.

The Skyhawks were ranked in 11 of the NSCAA’s 12 national polls in 2010, attaining a program-high No. 3 ranking. FLC finished No. 7 in the final poll of the season. Fort Lewis posted an 18-3-2 overall record and won its first-ever Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title with a 12-1-1 mark in league games.

Fort Lewis returns 16 letterwinners from last year’s team, including nine of 11 starters from its NCAA Division II quarterfinal match.

Two-time defending NCAA Division II national champion Grand Valley State (Michigan) is ranked No. 1. The

The complete poll includes:

1. Grand Valley State (Mich.)
2. UC San Diego
3. Saint Rose (N.Y.), College of
4. West Chester (Pa.)
5. Florida Tech
6. St. Edward’s (Texas)
7. Fort Lewis College
8. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.)
9. University of Central Missouri
10. Seattle Pacific (Wash.)
11. Armstrong Atlantic State (Ga.)
12. California (Pa.)
13. Wisconsin-Parkside
14. Tampa (Fla.), University of
15. Winona State (Minn.)
16. Columbus State (Ga.)
17. Northern Kentucky
18. Franklin Pierce (N.H.)
19. West Florida, University of
20. C.W. Post (N.Y.)
21. Abilene Christian (Texas)
22. Regis University
23. Cal State Los Angeles
24. Slippery Rock (Pa.)
25. American International (Mass.)

The Orediggers and Rangers (No. 18) were the only RMAC men’s teams included in the preseason ranks.

Mines men’s soccer team ranked ninth in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division II Pre-Season Poll.

The 2010 Mines squad claimed the RMAC regular season title posting a record of 12-1-1 in conference play. Mines went on to host the 2010 RMAC Tournament earning the tournament title on penalty kicks, 7-6, against Fort Lewis.

Mines went 17-2-2 on the season establishing a new single-season program record for victories and ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA Poll for four consecutive weeks. The Orediggers made their third appearance in the NCAA Tournament in program history and hosted their first NCAA Tournament game.

CSM went on to defeat Regis (5-1) earning the program’s first NCAA Tournament win before falling in the second round to Midwestern State (3-1).

For 2011, CSM returns its top five goal scorers from a team that led Division II men’s soccer in scoring offense at 3.24 goals per game in 2010. Mines also returns three All-Americans: forward Tesho Akindele, midfielder Chike Sullivan and goalkeeper Manville Strand.

The NSCAA Scholar’s West Region teams included 10 players from the RMAC among the 22 on the list. Regis University topped the list with four selections. Colorado School of Mines had three, Metro State had two and Mesa State had one representative on the men’s team.

Men’s Scholar All-West Region Teams

First Team

Pos. Name Year School Major GPA

K Brian Kostol Sr. Pacific Lutheran Business 3.54

D Garrison Cole Sr. Regis Spanish 3.64

D Taylor Willi Jr. Whitworth Chemistry 3.92

D Trevor Braun Sr. Colorado Mines Chemical Engineering 3.75

D Tyler Wilson* Sr. Metro State Finance 3.39

D Chris Bostic Sr. Colorado Mines Mechanical Engineering 3.86

D Jake Jobe Sr. Mesa State History 3.82

M Colin Bebee* Sr. Linfield Finance/Economics 3.95

M Benjamin Buhler Jr. Regis Engineering 3.77

F Kyle Emge Jr. Regis Business Management 3.49

F Nathan Kafer Sr. Regis Business Administration 3.68

Second Team 

Pos. Name Year School Major GPA

K Kyle Novak Jr. Whitworth History 3.52

D William Hiles Jr. Linfield Business 3.64

D Nicholas Shaw Jr. Whitworth Biology 3.32

D Peter Russell Jr. Puget Sound Politics and Government 3.71

D Aaron Grossberg Jr. Pacific Lutheran Biology 3.98

M Fernando Otero Sr. UC Santa Cruz Undeclared 3.62

M Scott Crawford Jr. Metro State Sports Industry Operations 3.58

M Nicholas Amedo Sr. Colorado Mines Mechanical Engineering 3.62

F Clayton Sorenson Sr. UC Santa Cruz Earth Sciences 3.64

* indicates prior selection

Midfielders Chike Sullivan, from Colorado School of Mines, and Steven Emory, from Metro State College of Denver, along with Mines forward Tesho Akindele made the first team.

Regis University defender Nathan Kafer picked up second team honors, while Mines ‘keeper Manville Strand, Regis defender Gary Cole and Fort Lewis College defender Fabian Kling made the third team.

A trio of players earned the All‐America recognition for a second time in their careers with the Monday announcement of the 2010 NSCAA/Performance Subaru NCAA Men’s Division II All‐America Team. Steven Beattie (Northern Kentucky/Skerries, Ireland), Kyle Ciliento (Grand Canyon/Phoenix, Ariz.) and Rob Vincent (University of Charleston/Liverpool, England) gained the honor for the second time.

Colorado School of Mines and Franklin Pierce University each placed three players on the squad, while Cal State San Bernardino, Regis University and Rollins College each had two representatives.

The players will be honored at the annual All‐America Luncheon, to be held at the Hilton Baltimore Hotel on Saturday, Jan. 15, as part of the 2011 NSCAA Convention.

 2010 NSCAA/Performance Subaru NCAA Men’s Division II All‐America Teams

FIRST TEAM

Pos., Player, Class, School, Hometown

K, Tanner Olinger, So., Cal State San Bernardino, Vancouver, Wash.

D, Tom Reilly, Jr, Franklin Pierce University, Wallasey, England

D, Igor Lukic, Sr., Clayton State University, Sabac, Serbia

D, Thomas Biddinger, Sr., Rollins College, Palm Harbor, Fla.

M, Chike Sullivan , Jr., Colorado School of Mines, San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago

M, Steven Beattie*, Sr., Northern Kentucky University, Skerries, Ireland

M, Steven Emory , Sr., Metro State University, Fort Collins, Colo.

F, Tesho Akindele, Fr., Colorado School of Mines, Thornton, Colo.

F, Obi Agwu, Sr., Cal State San Bernardino, Alta Loma, Calif.

F, Ferid Celosmanovic, Jr., Cal State Chico, Brco, Bosnia

F, Kyle Ciliento*, So., Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Ariz.

SECOND TEAM

K, Patrick McNamee, Jr., Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology, Fenton, Mo.

D, Jack Clifford, Sr., Rollins College, London, England

D, Christoph Hampel , Sr., Mercyhurst College, Berlin, Germany

D, Paul Templeton, Jr, Southern Connecticut State University, Salt Coats, Scotland

M, Johan Bergfeld, Jr., Flagler College, Akers Styckebruk, Sweden

M, Rob Vincent* , So., University of Charleston (W.Va.), Liverpool, England

M, Sascha Koettig, Sr., Barry University, Berlin, Germany

F, Nathan Kafer , Sr., Regis University, Erie, Colo.

F, Bradley Barraclough, Sr., Bellarmine University, Lincoln, England

F, Paul Latiff, Jr., Franklin Pierce University, Newcastle, England

F, Cristobal Montes, Jr., Notre Dame de Namur University, Fremont, Calif.

THIRD TEAM

K, Manville Strand , So., Colorado School of Mines, Las Vegas, Nev.

D, Gary Cole , Sr., Regis University, Englewood, Colo.

D, Fabian Kling , Jr., Fort Lewis College, Augsburg, Germany

D, Ryan Hall, Sr., Sonoma State University, Trabuco Canyon, Calif.

D, Vladimir Milosavljevic, Jr, Dowling College, Lucani, Serbia

D, Clifford Spence, Jr., Midwestern State University, Decatur, Texas

M, James Livingston, Sr., Ashland University, Aughton, England

M, Diego Tabares, Jr, Franklin Pierce University, Seekonk, Mass.

M, Michael Adam, Sr, Southern New Hampshire University, Ludlow, Mass.

F, Afrim Latifif , Sr., Gannon University, Erie, Pa.

F, Ashton Campbell, Jr., Tiffin University, Luton, England

F, Chance Bukoski, Jr., Hawaii Pacific University, Kappa, Hawaii

F, Luis Gonzalez, Jr., Cal Poly Pomona, Long Beach, Calif.

*indicates prior selection

 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference players listed in bold

Colorado School of Mines and Regis University each had five players on the first and second teams. Fort Lewis College and Metropolitan State College of Denver each had four players on the two teams. Mesa State and UC-Colorado Springs had one representative each.

Forward Derek Oelman from Upper Iowa was the only non-RMAC player on either team.

First Team

Pos. Name Year School Hometown

K Manville Strand * So. Colorado Mines Las Vegas, Nev.

D Gary Cole ** Sr. Regis Englewood, Colo.

D Jamie Cunningham Sr. Fort Lewis Scottsdale, Ariz.

D Fabian Kling * Jr. Fort Lewis Augsburg, Germany

D Kyle Wood Sr. Fort Lewis Albuquerque, N.M.

M Steven Emory ** Sr. Metro State Fort Collins, Colo.

M Alexandre Nass So. Colorado Mines Sao Paulo, Brazil

M Chike Sullivan * Jr. Colorado Mines San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago

F Tesho Akindele Fr. Colorado Mines Thornton, Colo.

F Kyle Emge Jr. Regis Fort Collins, Colo.

F Nathan Kafer ** Sr. Regis Erie, Colo.

Second Team

Pos. Name Year School Hometown

K Issa Bissau So. Metro State Denver, Colo.

D Keegan Bast Sr. Regis Littleton, Colo.

D Trevor Braun Sr. Colorado Mines Litchfield Park, Ariz.

D Jake Jobe Sr. Mesa State Missoula, Mont.

D Tyler Wilson Sr. Metro State Aurora, Colo.

M Ben Buhler Jr. Regis Greeley, Colo.

M Thomas Hoang Jr. Fort Lewis Colorado Springs, Colo.

M Chris Yoder Jr. Metro State Gilbert, Ariz.

F Matt Friesen Jr. Colorado-Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, Colo.

F Scott Grode * Jr. Metro State Gilbert, Ariz.

F Derek Oelmann Jr. Upper Iowa Waverly, Iowa

* – indicates previous selection

The Skyhawks are just one of five RMAC teams among the 48 sides in the women’s championship.

Metro State (12-5-2) and Colorado Mines (11-6-3) will face each other in a first round game at 2 p.m. on Friday at Dirks Field. The winner of that contest will play the Skyhawks at 1 p.m. on Sunday. It is the ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for the Roadrunners, the second-longest active streak behind Franklin Pierce’s 19 consecutive years.

“We’re just excited to play again,” Skyhawks coach Damian Clarke said. “Any time you have a chance to be in a tournament like this, it’s a privilege.”

Winona State (Minn.) (14-3-1), champions of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, will host the other half of the Central Regional. Regis University (14-4-1) and New Mexico Highlands (12-6-2) will square off Friday afternoon in Winona, Minn., with the winner to face Winona State on Sunday.

Fort Lewis won the 2010 RMAC regular season title with a 12-1-1 record in league games. The Skyhawks advanced to the RMAC tournament championship, where they lost to Regis 2-1 Sunday.

On the men’s side, the NCAA tournament looks like a continuation of the RMAC season, where the Colorado School of Mines will meet the Regis Rangers in a first-round game on Thursday.

Mines (16-1-2), which won the RMAC regular season crown, nipped Fort Lewis on penalty kicks for the conference tournament title on Sunday. Regis fell to Fort Lewis on penalty kicks after tying 1-1 in the semifinal.

Those two teams were the only men’s sides from the RMAC to make the 32-team field.

The last time a CSM men’s soccer team won the RMAC Tournament Championship was in 2002. The 2010 squad becomes the second team in program history to win both the regular-season and tournament titles matching the achievement of the 2002 team. Mines claimed RMAC Tournament titles in 1996 and 2002 while winning regular season championships 2000, 2002 and 2003.

On Sunday, the two teams were unable to find a winner through 90 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime, it came down to penalty kicks to determine a winner.

Kick after kick each team connected and after five attempts each extra kicks were needed. Mines ‘keeper Manville Strand got a hand on two of FLC’s kicks including one by Cory Dean that spun back into the goal after Strand knocked it down. However, on Jordan Alexander’s attempt Strand dove pushing the ball away to make the save. The next penalty kick was by Sean Helster who connected giving CSM the 7-6 victory and the RMAC Tournament Championship.

Rangers 2, Skyhawks 1: On the women’s side, Regis and Fort Lewis played a similarly tight game in Durango, but were able to arrive at a regulation-time winner.

Kelsey Froehlich’s penalty kick with 28:38 remaining in the game lifted No. 23 Regis (15-5-1) to their first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women’s soccer tournament championship since 2003 Sunday, as they defeated No. 3 Fort Lewis (17-2-1) 2-1 at Dirks Field.

“To be honest, I think it was a well-fought game from both teams,” said FLC head coach Damian Clarke. “Both teams played really, really tough today. On the day they ended up being the better team.”

Hayley Hollenga gave the Skyhawks a 1-0 lead just 7:13 into the contest when she ran onto a long ball played over the top of the Regis defense by Lauren Riley. She drilled the shot past Rangers goalkeeper Ellen Augsburger for her team-leading 12th goal of the year.

The lead was short-lived, though, as C.C. Rinehart stripped the ball from Riley near the top of the box and walked into scoring position. Her pass across the box was broken up by FLC goalkeeper Christine Schmelzle, but Meghan Stuart got to the ball first and lifted a perfectly-placed shot into the goal and past a scrambling Schmelzle at 14:55. The goal was Stuart’s fifth of the season.

Then in 61st minute, momentum swung Regis’ way. Froehlich sent a shot wide at 60:28. Less than a minute later, she drilled her penalty kick into the far right corner of the goal, past a diving Schmelzle. It was Froehlich’s first of the season.

The loss was Fort Lewis’s first in the RMAC championship. In four previous RMAC title games, the Skyhawks defeated Regis on penalty kicks following a 1-1 tie through two overtimes in 1999, beat Regis 1-0 in 2006, beat CSU-Pueblo 2-0 in 2007 and defeated Metro State on penalty kicks following a 1-1 tie through two overtimes in 2009.

Kristin Preble scored for the Mountain Lions, whose season ended with an 8-10-1 record. Senior Jennifer Joern got the assist.

New Mexico Highlands advances to the RMAC semifinals on Friday in Durango. The third-seeded Cowgirls will face No. 2 seed Regis.

Preble’s goal was her ninth of the season, a new UCCS record. The previous record for the third-year program was six by Preble in 2008.

The Cowgirls opened the scoring 30 seconds into the match as Tierra Saban converted a pass by Rodriguez. Highlands made it 2-0 in the 56th minute as Britney Cottrell scored with assists by Rodriguez and Krista Mashak.

Preble’s goal at the 58:41 mark cut the deficit in half, where it remained until the 71st minute. Rodriguez’s goal at that point made it 3-1.

Highlands added a final goal with 2:32 remaining. Heidi Nakoaka scored with assists by Amanda Piho and Rodriguez.

Mines 2, Metro State 1: Mines women’s soccer team advanced to the semifinal round of the RMAC Tournament in dramatic fashion Wednesday afternoon at the CSM Soccer Stadium with a 2-1 victory in double overtime over Metro State.
 
Megan Woodworth sent a corner kick far post in the fifth minute of the match finding the head of Jessica Stark for her fifth goal of the season to give CSM a 1-0 lead.
 
The Roadrunners scored the equalizer in the 64th minute as Aleah DeGeneres fought her way through the CSM defense collecting a deflected ball and scoring for her 10th goal of the season.
 
Anna Evans played a ball on the ground from the right side far post finding Alyssa Makhani making a run into the box in the 71st minute but Sarah Tanous made a diving stop at the post.
 
Just one minute and 19 seconds remained in the second overtime period when Woodworth played a ball into the box and found Evans. Evans turned and shot sending the ball into the goal for her 9th goal of the season. The assist was Woodworth’s 10th of the year establishing a new CSM single-season record for assists.
 
The Orediggers (11-5-3) advance to the semifinal round of the RMAC Tournament to be played in Durango, Colorado, at Dirks Field. CSM will play the No. 1-seed Fort Lewis on Friday at 2:30 pm.