Business as usual
Dukes win third-straight, beating Albany Saturday
By John Galle, sports editor
Posted on September 18, 2006

The JMU men’s soccer team notched its third straight win Saturday afternoon with a 5-1 victory over the University of Albany at JMU Soccer Complex, closing out its non-conference schedule with a 5-1 record.

“Right now, every game counts, looking at [getting into] the NCAAs,” JMU senior defender Mike Tuddenham said. “We have a lot of momentum going into [conference play].”

However, JMU had trouble finding momentum in the early goings in Saturday’s contest against Albany.

After outplaying the Great Danes in the first half — out-shooting them 7-0 — the Dukes found themselves at a scoreless tie at halftime. Although the damp field was coming up underneath the players in tufts, the Dukes adjusted quicker than their opponents, using home field to their advantage. JMU’s back line stepped up and contained Albany, shutting down every first-half offensive.

“It’s not defense in single,” JMU coach Tom Martin said. “It’s defense as a group. We have to play well as a unit. We’ve got players who can attack. It’s always easier to organize on the defensive side.”

To start the second half, the Dukes proved they could attack and came out firing, scoring five goals and continuing a trend. In its last four contests, JMU has scored 11 goals in the second half, compared to just three in the first half.

Tuddenham is starting a trend of his own as he emerged as the icebreaker once again, scoring the opening goal for the Dukes for the second time in as many games.

On a run downfield from his back line position, Tuddenham took a lobbed through pass inside the box in the 50th minute and chipped the ball over the head of Albany’s goalkeeper Steward Ceus to give the Dukes a 1-0 lead. Tuddenham has scored once in each of the last three games for JMU.

“I think after the loss to Davidson, [we’ve] focused on finishing,” Tuddenham said. “It’s made all the difference.”

Said Martin, “There’s no doubt about [Tuddenham’s] effort. [He was] in the right place at the right time.”

Junior forward Lasse Kokko joined Tuddenham on the list of scoring by adding two goals off rebounds in the 51st and 62nd minutes.

The first one came just two minutes after Tuddenham’s goal when senior midfielder Kurt Morsink’s shot was saved by Ceus. Kokko ran onto the ball, which was moving toward the goal line, and put it behind Ceus for what ended up being the game-winner. Kokko cleaned up on another blocked shot in front of the net 11 minutes later, assisted in similar fashion by sophomore midfielder Nick Zimmerman.

Down 3-0 with less than 30 minutes to play, Albany began to play with a sense of urgency. It paid off in the 70th minute when the Dukes gave up the ball in their own end. Albany’s Yan Gobolo got a hold of the ball and dished it to teammate Don Johnson. After his cross found the foot of Stephen Hall, Albany got on the scoreboard and JMU senior goalkeeper Kevin Trapp lost the clean sheet.

It would have been JMU’s third straight.

JMU’s Kurt Morsink added a goal with an out-swinging, 15-yard shot to cap the game’s scoring with 4:04 left on the clock.

“Our defense makes it easy on us,” Morsink said. “The guys are smart, play very well as a unit [and] give us the freedom to attack. They’ve really put up some impressive numbers.”

JMU’s defense only allowed three shots the entire game. In the last three games, the Dukes have allowed a total of 20 shots and one goal.

“The three or four chances they had were balls that we helped them out with,” Martin said.

Though they didn’t get the shutout, Martin said his squad played very well defensively as a unit and he would continue to work with them to keep that area consistent.

“I’ve seen even more consistency,” Martin said. “There’s a defensive role for everyone on the field. It starts with the back four, [but doesn’t end there].”