Aug. 11, 2006

Another first has been added to the short coaching tenure of James Walker whose Duquesne Dukes are ranked 15th on Soccer Buzz Magazine's Mid-Atlantic Region Pre-Season poll as announced today. There are 47 teams in the Mid-Atlantic market and Soccer Buzz ranks 15 teams in each of its six regions.

The Dukes, which return seven starters from last year's 10-6-1 squad, received the program's first votes last season in the same Soccer Buzz poll last Oct. 4. Walker, who enters his fourth season at Duquesne, saw his Dukes spend two weeks ranked 15th on the regional poll last October.

The Red & Blue ended the 2005 season making the program's first appearance in the six-team Atlantic 10 Tournament and set a University record with their 10 wins. The Dukes received votes in the final Soccer Buzz regional rankings to conclude a record-setting year.

Duquesne opens the 2006 season Aug. 25 at the Vermont Tournament facing the host Catamounts and concludes the weekend Sat. taking on Northeastern. The home slate begins Sept. 10 as the Dukes host Wright State at 1:00 pm on Rooney Field.