JMU continues hot streak

The Hot Corner

If you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks, chances are you haven’t heard about the best team on campus.

Men’s soccer upset No. 15 Virginia Commonwealth University Friday at the JMU Soccer Complex.

The Dukes then came from behind to defeat the University of North Carolina-Wilmington Sunday. The two wins ran JMU’s record to 11-0-1 overall and 4-0-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Dukes currently are one of only five undefeated teams in NCAA Division I soccer.

If this still isn’t registering, wake up.

In the Thursday, Sept. 16 issue of The Breeze, a story ran about JMU’s fast start, which at the time was 4-0-0. If four straight wins is getting out of the gate nicely, then this record simply is running away with the conference.

Stick around, because this gets better.

Much of the credit starts and finishes with coach Tom Martin, who is what sports junkies simply call a "winner." Martin has endured only one losing season in 27 years of coaching both at JMU and Virginia Wesleyan. He has taken the Dukes to the NCAA tournament seven times in his 19-year tenure at JMU.

It doesn’t hurt that Martin has an offense that nearly can score at will. Three JMU players — sophomore midfielders Kurt Morsink and Mark Totten and junior midfielder Bobby Humphrey — are ranked in the top-10 in the CAA for total points this season. Morsink’s eight goals tie him for second in the CAA in goals-per-game. Totten leads the conference in assists.

Still not satisfied?

Let’s look at the defense, a unit that lost senior Rob Overton to graduation and was supposed to struggle early without their former leader. The Dukes have allowed eight goals in 12 games. In other words, Morsink has scored as many goals this season as JMU’s opponents in 2004.

The benefactor of this steel curtain-esque defense is redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who has given up 0.62 goals-per-game, a figure that leads the CAA.

Need more proof? Here comes the hammer.

Since Oct. 19, 2003, JMU has lost one game. One, uno, ein; You know, the number preceding two. The Dukes are 16-1-1 over that stretch. No team in the conference is even close to that. The fact is, this soccer team nearly has been as consistent as the New England Patriots.

Case closed. I’ll see you at the next home game, unless of course you’re content with staying underneath that rock of yours.

James Irwin is a sophomore SMAD major.

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