Nov. 12, 2003

Four Duquesne University's men's soccer players have been selected to the 2003 Atlantic 10 All-Conference Teams, including senior Damien Pottinger (Scarborough, Ontario/Mother Teresa) who was named the conference Player of the Year and freshman Zach Varga (Mountville, PA/Hempfield) who was named the league's Rookie of the Year. Pottinger was also named First Team All-Conference and Varga was named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team while junior Derek Mackenzie (Carnegie, PA/Chartiers Valley) was named a Second Team All-Conference choice and freshman Noah Salsi (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) was named to the All-Rookie Team.

Pottinger led the Dukes in goals (12) and points (28) for the second straight year and is the University's all-time leading scorer with 38 career goals and 88 career points. He led the conference in points per game (1.65) and was tied for the league-lead in goals. A two-time A-10 Player of the Week, he scored at least one goal in nine of 17 games played, including a career-best four in a 5-0 win versus Saint Joseph's. He is Duquesne's first ever A-10 Offensive Player of the Year.

Varga, a two-time A-10 Pre-Season All-Rookie choice, was named the conference Rookie of the Week on four occasions. He started all 18 games for the Dukes in leading Duquesne to an Atlantic 10 best 0.70 goals against average, allowing just 13 goals in 18 games. His .835 saves percentage is good for second best all-time in Duquesne history while his six shutouts is currently third in the single-season records book. He is Duquesne's first ever A-10 Rookie of the Year.

Mackenzie was second on the Dukes in assists with seven and is Duquesne's career leader in that category with 22. An A-10 Pre-Season All-Conference selection, he was fifth on the team in scoring with nine points. His lone goal came on a penalty kick in a 4-0 win versus Canisius.

Salsi led the Dukes and the Atlantic 10 with eight assists. He added two goals, including the game-winner at Fordham for 12 points on the season, third best on the team. He was one of just five players to start all 18 games for the Red and Blue.

The 17th-ranked Dukes are currently 13-3-2 on the season and finished with a share of the Atlantic 10 regular season crown with an 8-2-1 conference mark. Duquesne enters the Atlantic 10 Championship as the two seed with a first round bye and will face the highest remaining seed of Thursday's games on Friday at 7:30 pm at Richmond.