Dukes aim for home field advantage

FILE PHOTO Sophomore midfielder Mark Totten and a St. Joseph's University player battle for possession earlier this season. The Dukes start a three-game road trip Friday in Philadelphia against the Drexel University Dragons, aiming to secure home field advantage in the CAA tournament.

After finishing the weekend 1-1 on the road, men’s soccer heads into this weekend with only three games left on the regular season, all conference games on foreign soil.

The 13-1-1 Dukes face Drexel University (4-10) Friday at 7 p.m. in Philadelphia and then travel to play Hofstra University (6-8-1) Sunday at 2 p.m. in Hempstead, N.Y., before wrapping up their regular season in Fairfax against the George Mason University Patriots.

The Dukes were handed their first loss of the season last Friday — a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. It was the first time this season the Dukes were unable to score even though they outshot ODU 12-9.

The Dukes then traveled to the College William & Mary Sunday and earned their 13th win of the season. The winning goal came from sophomore midfielder Kurt Morsink in the first minute of double overtime.

"Winning one game this weekend was huge," senior forward Denny Faulk said. "We knew it’d be tough on the road, but just getting one win out of the two was extremely important."

JMU has secured a spot in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament but needs continued success in the final three games to earn home field advantage and a berth into the coveted NCAA tournament.

"Hosting the CAA tournament games would be such a huge advantage for us," Faulk said. "We’ve had great fan support at home and have definitely played our best at home on Friday nights. Ultimately we all want to win the CAA tournament and go into the NCAA’s with a lot of momentum."

Dukes coach Tom Martin said his team will have to work hard both on offense and defense.

"We are going to have to improve on finishing our chances and defending as a team," Martin. "The back five to six players have done a great job defending, but we need to be able to defend with all 11 players in certain situations."

The Dukes have had 13 different players contribute statistically this season. That number is abnormally high yet, a possible reason for their success.

JMU is ranked No. 13 in College Soccer News and also is ranked in the top 20 in three other national polls. The Dukes are also ranked No. 3 in the South Atlantic Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.