Hard Work and Belief: The 2005 Fort Lewis Men's Soccer Quest for the National Championship
RMAC Media Relations
This is the final profile on the inductees for the RMAC Hall of Fame Class of 2019. Click here to read the features on Kate (Murphy) Avila, Frank Gross, Frank Christensen, Tom Beeson, Kristin (Shern) Bailey, and Jeremy Gunn.
The 2005 season was a year of firsts for the Fort Lewis College (FLC) men’s soccer program. This team was one of the best to take the pitch in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and their accomplishments helped raise the standards for future Skyhawks.
In 2005, the Skyhawks went 22-0-1 overall (11-0-1 RMAC), notching their first undefeated season in program history.
“Our record speaks to kind of how we approached things in a very professional manner and [we] took one game at a time,” said 2005 team captain Bryan Eisenbraun.
In addition to Eisenbraun, the members of the 2005 team included Adam Beach, Jonathan Boyer, Nick Clark, Bernardo Costa, John Cunliffe, Tom Donley, John Eckhoff, Sean Flanagan, Kyle Fredrick, Ben Gantenbein, Jeremy Gunn (head coach) Jimmy Hall (student coach), Kieran Hall, Erik Hardin, Ryan Kerr, Nick Kirchhof, Taylor Lavoy, Andy McDermid (assistant coach), Scott McGinn (student athletic-trainer), Darren Morgan (assistant coach), Ryan Parsons, Carter Rice, Casey Roberts, Paul Sanchez, Cole Sweetser, Justin Valashinas, Cliff Wilmes, and Kenny Wood.
The road to a national title wasn’t a clear path. The Skyhawks played several tough games, including against Colorado School of Mines where they played the Orediggers four times that season. As the season progressed, Eisenbraun recalled the mindset of the team.
“We were in it to win a RMAC regular-season championship, a RMAC tournament championship…and then of course the national championship. We were focused on winning all three trophies.”
After taking it one game at a time, with a winning mindset approach, Fort Lewis captured their fifth RMAC regular season title and sixth RMAC tournament title to advance to the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II (DII) Men’s Soccer Tournament.
The team’s success was also largely due in part to former head coach, Jeremy Gunn.
“Coach Gunn is the best leader I have ever met, ever known,” exclaimed Eisenbraun. “All the way from tactics and strategies to vision…he is able to communicate across a group of individuals and connect with them in a way I’ve never seen…[He] said if you come to the ‘Fort’ you will be playing for something at the end of the year and the ultimate goal is to win a national championship.”
During the first round of postseason, Fort Lewis saw RMAC opponent, Colorado School of Mines, and defeated the Orediggers 1-0. FLC advanced in the tournament, claiming victories over Cal-State Dominguez Hills, 3-2 and Lynn University, 6-4 before meeting Franklin Pierce in the championship game. In a 3-1 victory over the Ravens, the Skyhawks captured the first of three NCAA DII National Championship titles in FLC history.
“Winning the [national] title was everything we had ever dreamed of…it always felt inevitable,” said Eisenbraun. “It was the accumulation of a lot of hard work and a lot of belief.”
The Skyhawks capped off the season with several accolades including Eisenbraun being named RMAC Defensive Player of the Year. The team had four All-Americans, four All-Final Four Team members, five United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as National Soccer Coaches Association of America) All-Midwest Regional Team members and Eisenbraun and teammate John Cunliffe were named NCAA DII Final Four Most Outstanding Defensive and Offensive Players, respectively. In 2016, the team was inducted into the Fort Lewis Skyhawks Hall of Fame and this year, they will become the first-ever men’s or women’s soccer team to be inducted in to the RMAC Hall of Fame.
The 2005 Fort Lewis Men’s Soccer Team will be honored at the 2019 RMAC Hall of Fame on Friday, July 12 at the Colorado Springs Marriott. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit
www.RMACSPORTS.org/HOF2019.