Fort Lewis College head men's soccer coach Oige Kennedy was named the 2011 NSCAA/MONDO National Coach of the Year for NCAA Division II, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America announced last week at its annual convention and awards banquet.

"Recognition by your peers is always special," said FLC Director of Athletics Gary Hunter.

Fort Lewis College men's soccer coach Oige Kennedy announced that English-born player Sameth Al-Basith has enrolled in classes this semester and has joined the Skyhawks in their defense of the NCAA Division II national championship.

"Sameth is a player that we are extremely excited to add to our roster for the upcoming spring," said Kennedy, who guided the Skyhawks to their third NCAA Division II title since 2005 last month.

Changing coaches often means changing playing styles, and the decision to hire Oscar Pareja as head coach means the Colorado Rapids of 2012 may look quite different from the teams of 2010-11.

Giving Pareja the reins of his first MLS team is going to create a roster shakeup. The Colombian, a veteran of MLS campaigns from 1998 through 2005, has already talked about the need to find a Carlos Valderrama-type playmaker for the Rapids.

CU's soccer future just got a lot brighter.

On Monday, the University of Colorado lured Danny Sanchez back to the Front Range to take over an underachieving Buffs team that stumbled badly in its first season in the Pac 12.

Sanchez, who spent the past several years turning the University of Wyoming into a winning program, has a history of winning at every level.

It took extra time on Saturday, but the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks picked up the team's third national title since 2005.

Berekk Blackwell delivered a header off a Joey Madigan corner kick that gave Fort Lewis a 3-2 victory over Lynn about 90 seconds into the first overtime of the NCAA Division II men's soccer championship in Pensacola, Fla.

Junior goalkeeper Lara Campbell on Oct. 7, 2011 during the South Alabama match @ CIBER Field

The University of Denver's women's soccer team has had an amazing season, and finished with 16 wins and only five losses.

Junior goalkeeper Lara Campbell made an astounding 43 saves this season even after suffering a, high ankle sprain injury early on in the season.

Freshman foward Christian Volesky, right, with the ball during the College of Charleston match on Sept. 18, 2011 @ CIBER Field.

The University of Denver's men's soccer team finished the season with, (5-3-11).

Freshman forward Christian Volesky had an extremely successful season with, six goals and one assist.

Hamilton during the Oct. 7, 2011 match versus South Alabama @ CIBER Field.

This year's University of Denver's women's soccer team has been winning games left and right, after 21 games, they have come out victorious in 16 of them. Sophomore forward Kristen Hamilton made a large contribution to those statistics.

Gary Smith, who led the Colorado Rapids to an improbable championship in 2010, was shown the door on Monday.

The coach, who had agreed to a new contract, and the team announced a parting of the ways on Monday afternoon. The departure came the same day that Rapids players cleared out their lockers following a 4-0 aggregate loss to Kansas City in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Carly Nelson, left, makes an leaping effort to connect with the ball against Skyhawk Sara Egbom during an Oct. 9 match in December. Metro State and Fort Lewis each made it into the women's NCAA Division II tournament. (Photograph by Joel Baud/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

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.

Colorado spent 3,330 minutes this season defending the 2010 MLS Cup Championship, which put the team 180 minutes shy of defending its title.

Graham Zusi provided the services in the 28th and 76th minute as Sporting Kansas City recorded another 2-0 victory over the Rapids, giving KC a 4-0 aggregate win in the Eastern Conference Semifinal.

The Denver Broncos are not the only recipients of the unbridled optimism of Colorado sports fans and writers.

Trailing Kansas City 2-0 on aggregate when they take the field tonight at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas, the Colorado Rapids have suddenly become the beneficiaries of miraculous hopes for improbable outcomes.

Teams that can't score don't make it far in the postseason, and the Colorado Rapids are a team that can't score.

The latest evidence came Sunday evening as the Rapids fell 2-0 to Sporting Kansas City in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Colorado, which edged the Columbus Crew 1-0 in the wild card match on Thursday, couldn't generate legitimate threats as Sporting spent the evening shoving them around the field.

After two straight losses, the Colorado School of Mines squad made sure that senior night included a win to remember.

Five players scored as the Orediggers pounded the Adams State Grizzlies 8-1 on Friday night in Golden. Tesho Akindele led the assault, scoring his first goal in the fifth minute, en route to his sixth career hat trick.

After a stellar 2010 campaign, Omar Cummings has had a season to forget. On Thursday night, however, he reminded everyone just how deadly he can be.

Cummings was alone in the penalty area when his roommate, Kosuke Kimura, passed to him in the waning moments of the first half. Kimura, who made regular forays into the attack, saw Cummings just after receiving a pass from Brian Mullan.