Dukes Picked Third In CAA Men

Northeastern, which returns eight starters from last year’s 14-3-4 team that captured its first CAA men’s soccer championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, is favored to capture the conference title again in 2013 according to a vote of the league’s men’s soccer coaches.

The Huskies claimed the top spot in the poll after receiving three first-place votes and 44 total points. Drexe[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’]l, which won the CAA regular-season title in 2012, also got three first-place votes and finished second with 41 points.

James Madison picked up one first-place vote and was third with 36 points, while Hofstra also got a first-place vote and was right behind with 35 points. UNCW was fifth in the balloting, followed by William and Mary, College of Charleston and the University of Delaware.

Northeastern set a school record for victories in 2012 and was ranked #25 nationally by College Soccer News in its final poll. Back to lead the Huskies is junior defender Simon Cox, who scored four goals and was the CAA Co-Defensive Player of the Year last season.

Also returning are midfielder Dante Marini (1 goal, 5 assists) and defender Ambry Moss, who both made the All-CAA second team a year ago.

Drexel returns seven starters from its 12-4-3 squad that lost just once in CAA play and earned an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 1972. The Dragons’ top returnee is senior midfielder Nathan Page, who scored a team-high nine goals and was named to the All-CAA first team in 2012.

He is joined by a pair of second-team All-CAA picks in junior midfielder Ken Tribbett (3 goals, 2 assists) and junior defender Tal Bublil.

James Madison has seven starters back from last year’s 9-7-3 team. Sophomore defender Bjarki Aethalsteinsson earned Freshman All-America and first-team All-CAA accolades in his first season with the Dukes, while junior forward Josh Grant scored seven goals and was voted to the CAA All-Rookie squad last year.

Hofstra has six returning starters from its 11-6-4 unit that advanced to the 2012 CAA championship game. The Pride welcomes back a pair of second-team All-CAA forwards in junior Maid Memic (team-high 9 goals, 4 assists) and senior Chris Griebsch (4 goals, CAA-best 11 assists).