Head Coach:  Tom Martin, 27th JMU season, 334-139-50; 36th career season, 453-174-60

This Season:  0-0-0 overall, 0-0-0 in Colonial Athletic Association

JMU Last Season (2011):  13-5-2 overall; 8-3-0 (1st place) CAA; CAA Tournament semifinalist; NCAA Tournament Round of 16

This Week:  JMU opens its season in Virginia Tech's Hokie Invitational.  The Dukes face Richmond at 5 p.m. on Aug. 24 and take on Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at noon on Aug. 26.

Hokie Invitational Tournament
When:  Friday, Aug. 24 and Sunday, Aug. 26
     Aug. 24, JMU vs. Richmond, 5 p.m.
     Aug. 26, JMU vs. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, noon
Where:  Thompson Field, Blacksburg, Va. | Directions
Multimedia:  Live Stats

Last Week:
JMU won 2-0 at Radford in a preseason scrimmage on Aug. 18.  The Dukes' scheduled home scrimmage with Maryland, Baltimore County, on Aug. 14 was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Scouting Richmond:  The Spiders, who open regular-season play against the Dukes, compiled a 5-12-1 record last season under then-fourth-year head coach Clint Peay, who played on four NCAA champion teams at Virginia (1991-94).  Peay recently left Richmond for a coaching position with the Under-17 U.S. National Team, and former UR All-America Leigh Cowlishaw is the Spiders' interim head coach. Richmond was picked to finish 14th in the 16-team Atlantic 10 by a vote of the league's head coaches. 

The Series vs. Richmond:  JMU leads the series 15-6-4 and won the latest meeting, 2-0 in Harrisonburg, in the 2009 season.  Prior to that the teams last played in 2000, Richmond's last season as a CAA member.

JMU vs. Richmond All-Time
JMU leads the series 15-6-4.
Home:  7-2-2
Away:  8-3-1
Neutral:  0-1-1
Date, Result, Score, OT, Site
9/26/76, W, 8-0, Home
11/4/81, W, 3-1, Away
10/28/82, W, 8-4, Home
10/4/83, W, 2-1, Away
10/4/84, L, 0-1, Home
10/3/85, L, 0-2, Away
9/28/86, L, 0-1, Away
9/26/87, T, 2-2, OT, Home
9/24/88, L, 1-2, Away
9/20/89, W, 5-1, Home
9/19/90, W, 2-1, Away
9/18/91, W, 3-1, Home
10/21/92, W, 2-1, OT, Away
10/20/93, W, 3-1, Home
11/5/93, W, 3-0, Away, CAA semifinals
10/8/94, W, 2-1, Away
10/14/95, W, 1-0, Home
11/9/96, T, 2-2, OT, Away
11/15/96, T, 1-1, OT, Wilmington, N.C., CAA semifinals (JMU advanced on penalty kicks)
10/25/97, T, 0-0, 2 OT, Home
10/11/98, W, 4-3, OT, Away
10/23/99, L, 1-2, Home
11/10/99, L, 1-2, 2 OT, Virginia Beach, Va., CAA quarterfinals
10/25/00, W, 1-0, Away
9/6/09, W, 2-0, Home

Scouting SIUE:  The Cougars open regular-season play against tournament host Virginia Tech on Aug. 24 before taking on the Dukes.  SIUE was picked to finish fourth among the seven soccer teams in the Missouri Valley Conference, by a vote of the league's head coaches. 

The Series vs. SIUE:  The teams have never met.

Wyatt a Potential Pro Pick:  Senior Paul Wyatt is included on a list of 30 seniors who are candidates to play professionally following completion of their college careers.  The list was compiled by the website TopDrawerSoccer.com.
      "A versatile and dynamic player, Wyatt is facing high expectations with the Dukes in need of goal-scoring help and he's coming off a strong junior year," according to the website.

JMU Projected for NCAA Field:  JMU is projected to be among the 48 teams in the 2012 NCAA Tournament field, according to the website TopDrawerSoccer.com.  The weekly rankings are a running attempt to project the postseason NCAA Tournament qualifiers, including every automatic conference berth.
     The Week 1 rankings, released Aug. 20, have the Dukes at #30 on the list.
     JMU regular-season opponents on the list include:
        #1 North Carolina (Sept. 11)
        #16 Georgetown (Sept. 25)
        #27 Old Dominion (Oct. 3)
        #48 Delaware (Oct. 14)

Preseason Honors:  Paul Wyatt was named to the College Sports Madness preseason All-America Team and was selected the CAA's preseason co-Player of the Year in voting by the league's head coaches.  The senior midfielder shared the Player of the Year honor with Old Dominion senior forward Yannick Smith.
     Three other JMU players joined Wyatt in earning preseason all-league honors from the CAA and/or College Sports Madness.
     Wyatt was named to the All-CAA First Team by both the CAA and College Sports Madness.  Redshirt senior midfielder Christian McLaughlin and senior defender Dale Robins-Bailey received All-CAA honorable mention from the conference.  Robins-Bailey and sophomore forward Boyd Reid were selected to the All-CAA Second Team by College Sports Madness.

Martin Is Winningest Active Coach:  Dukes' head coach Tom Martin is the winningest active coach in NCAA Division I soccer.  He enters his 36th career season with a career record of 453-174-60.  His record in 26 JMU seasons is 334-139-50. 

Virginia Tech Connection:  JMU and Virginia Tech won't play each other this season, but both teams will play two early-season matches on the other team's home field.
     JMU opens its season Aug. 24 and 26 at Tech's Hokie Invitational Tournament, and the following week the Hokies travel to Harrisonburg to compete in the JMU/Fairfield Inn by Marriott Invitational Tournament (Aug. 31, Sept. 2).
     Tech and JMU have some connections on the soccer field, as fourth-year Tech head coach Mike Brizendine and fourth-year Hokies assistant coach Patrick McSorley are both former Dukes' soccer players, and McSorley was associate head coach at JMU before heading to Virginia Tech in 2009.
     Brizendine (JMU '99), who played for JMU from 1995-98, also formerly coached at nearby Division III Bridgewater College (assistant coach 2000, head coach 2001-03), where he was selected Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2003.  At JMU he earned all-region and All-CAA honors as a senior, and he currently ranks tied fifth on the Dukes' career goals list (38) and eighth in points (90).  His wife, the former Lucy Draper, is a Harrisonburg High School graduate. 
     McSorley (JMU '96), who was on the Dukes' coaching staff from 2003-09, earned All-America honors for JMU as a senior in 1995.  He played on four NCAA Tournament teams, including the 1994 and 1995 NCAA quarterfinalist teams, and three CAA champion squads (1992, 93, 94). McSorley, who still holds JMU career records of 42 goals and 103 points, was inducted into the JMU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.  He is married to the former Bridget Brugger, a former assistant director of sports medicine at JMU.

A Big (and we mean BIG) Cast:  If you happen to notice this season that JMU is consistently winning more headers than the opposition, there's probably a good reason for that.
     The average height of the 31-member JMU team is just over six feet tall.
      All nine of the Dukes' incoming freshmen are 6-0 or taller, and the class of 2016 averages better than 6-2.  The freshman class includes the team's tallest player, 6-5 defender Rhys Howard, along with 6-4 defender Bjarki Aðalsteinsson and 6-4 goalkeeper Kyle Morton.
     The shortest members of the 2012 team?  Three players are listed at 5-8.

Home Unbeaten Streak at 11:  JMU did not lose at home last season, and the Dukes take an 11-game (10-0-1) home unbeaten streak into the 2012 season.
    That's the longest home unbeaten streak for the program since JMU set a school record with 14 games without a loss (13-0-1), spanning the 2003 and 2004 seasons. 
    On four occasions in school history JMU teams have gone 12 or more games without a loss.
    JMU plays its first home game on Aug. 29 against St. Bonaventure in the first round of the Fairfield Inn by Marriott Invitational Tournament.

Longest JMU Home Unbeaten Streaks
14 (13-0-1), 2003-04
13 (11-0-2), 1997-98
13 (11-0-2), 1988-89
12 (11-0-1), 1972-74
11 (10-0-1), 2011
11 (9-0-2), 1988
10 (9-0-1), 1989-90
9 (7-0-2), 2006

Dukes Picked to Finish Second in CAA:  JMU was selected by CAA coaches to finish second in the CAA standings in 2012.  Old Dominion was the choice to finish first in the league as voted by CAA head soccer coaches.

2012 CAA PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. Old Dominion (9 first-place votes), 99
2. James Madison (1 first-place vote), 81
3. Delaware, 72
4. William and Mary, 69
5. Northeastern, 61
6. George Mason (1 first-place vote), 58
7. Georgia State, 57
8. Hofstra, 34
    UNCW, 34
10. Drexel, 24
11. Towson, 16

(Teams received 10 points for a first-place vote, 9 for second, etc. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.)

National Rankings:  Three JMU opponents (North Carolina, Old Dominion, Delaware) are ranked or are receiving votes in the preseason national polls (NSCAA, Soccer America, College Soccer News). 

JMU Opponents in the National Polls (Preseason)
School, Game Date, Site (Result), Ranking*
North Carolina, Sept. 11, home, 1 | 6 | 1
Old Dominion, Oct. 3, away, 23| 12| 13
Delaware, Oct. 14, away, nr | nr | votes
William and Mary, Oct. 24, home, votes | nr | nr
* NSCAA |Soccer America | College Soccer News

JMU Week by Week in the National Polls
Preseason:  nr Soccer America | votes College Soccer News | #19 NSCAA 

CAA Teams, Highest National Rank in 2012
Delaware, votes (College Soccer News preseason)
Old Dominion, 12th (Soccer America preseason)