Click here to view the complete 2010 All-RMAC men's soccer team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — No. 23 Fort Lewis College placed six players on the All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's soccer teams today, led by first team All-RMAC selections Kyle Wood and Jamie Cunningham, Assistant Commissioner Sarah Meier announced today.

“It's great for some of these guys to finally get some recognition that they deserve,” said second-year head coach Oige Kennedy. “They're all great team players and the type of people you want in your program to help built it and keep it strong.”

Wood, a 5-foot-11 senior midfielder from Eldorado High School in Albuquerque, N.M., earned first team All-RMAC accolades for the second time in his career, having previous won the honor as a sophomore in 2008. Earlier in his career, he was selected as a first team Preseason All-RMAC pick in 2009 and '10, the Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the 2009 NCAA Division II Final Four, second team Daktronics All-Central Region in 2009, RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll in 2008, Most Valuable Player of the 2008 RMAC tournament and RMAC All-Tournament in 2008 and '09.

“Kyle's been a superb player,” said Kennedy. “Last year he was the best right back in the country and he had the assist in the game-winning goal in the national championship game. This year he's had to take on a different role positionally, but has been our most consistent performer all season.”

Cunningham, a 6-foot-2 senior defender from Pinnacle High School in Scottsdale, Ariz., surprisingly earned All-RMAC honors for the first time in his career, a fact that is deceiving since coaches are allowed to nominate only a handful of players. Cunningham was simply left off previous ballots due to a numbers game.

His career isn't short of individual accomplishments, though. Cunningham was a second team Daktronics All-American and first team Daktronics All-Central Region performer in 2009, a member of the RMAC All-Tournament team three times from 2007-09 and a four-time RMAC All-Academic award winner. He also was chosen by league coaches as the 2010 RMAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and was a member of the 2008 and '10 Preseason All-RMAC teams.

“With Jamie, he's not only matured as a player but as a person,” Kennedy said of his co-captain. “His record in the past years has been superb. He's definitely an All-American caliber defender. If you think back to last year's championship game, we wouldn't have won it without Jamie clearing the ball off the goal line with about 10 minutes to go.”

Fabian Kling, a 6-foot-3 junior defender from Holblein High School in Augsburg, Germany, was named to the All-RMAC second team. His career has also been filled with individual awards. In 2009, he was chosen to the NSCAA All-Central Region first team and the Daktronics All-Central Region second team and was named to the All-NCAA Division II Final Four Team. As a freshman in 2007, he earned first team All-RMAC honors. He has been a Preseason All-RMAC choice in 2009 and '10.

“How does a guy who scores eight goals from the defending position not get first team All-RMAC?” Kennedy asked. “Since he came here as a freshman, he's been very consistent. Next year he'll be the captain of the team and hopefully lead us to another successful season.”

Three Skyhawks — Keane Hamilton, Thomas Hoang and Byron Cephers — were named to the All-RMAC third team.

Hamilton, a 5-foot-8 senior midfielder from Big Sky High School in Missoula, Mont., earned the first individual award of his career.

“He's a player who has put his time in the program,” Kennedy said of the four-year starter. “He's come on so much as a player and improved so much. He's a great student-athlete and one of the best players we've ever had at Fort Lewis.”

Hoang, a 5-foot-11 junior midfielder from Liberty High School in Colorado Springs, also earned a postseason award for the first time in his career, although he did receive the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honor on Oct. 5, 2010.

“He came into the season late last year after Keane's [shoulder] injury and really blossomed from that point on,” said Kennedy. “He's become a real attacking threat whether he's playing up front or in the midfield.”

Cephers, a 5-foot-6 senior midfielder from Smoky Hill High School in Aurora, is another Skyhawk to receive a postseason recognition for the first time.

“Byron has always had some tremendous natural abilities like speed and pace and tenacity,” said Kennedy. “The last two seasons he's added some real quality to his game.”

All five players played key roles in FLC's run to the 2009 NCAA Division II national championship. Cephers, Cunningham, Hamilton and Wood are five-year players who redshirted on FLC's 2006 NCAA Division II runner-up squad.

The Skyhawks (11-5-2, 10-2-2) are ranked No. 23 in the latest NSCAA/HendrickCars.com NCAA Division II poll. They finished second in the 2010 RMAC regular season standings behind Colorado Mines, which hosts this weekend's RMAC championships. The Skyhawks play at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the CSM Soccer Field against the winner of tomorrow's matchup between third-seeded Regis (13-2-3, 9-2-3) and sixth-seeded CSU-Pueblo (7-10-1, 6-7-1).

A strong showing at the RMAC tournament would go a long ways to securing a seventh-straight NCAA tournament bid for the Skyhawks. Fort Lewis has qualified for the national playoffs 10 times since 1997, winning the 2005 and 2009 NCAA Division II national championships and finishing second in the nation in 1999 and 2006.