PREVIEW: @DuqMSoccer at Saint Louis

Dukes head West to conclude A-10 regular season

Duquesne (2-4, 2-3) finishes the Atlantic 10 regular-season schedule at Saint Louis (8-4, 3-2) at 7:00 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, April 10 at Hermann Stadium (ESPN+).

The Dukes, who defeated the Billikens at home on Mar. 20 (1-0 in 2OT), need a win to tie SLU for second in the Atlantic 10 West Division (click here for standings). SLU, which has nine points, enters the weekend one point back of first place Dayton. DU has six points.

The three divisional champions, plus one at-large team will compete for the Atlantic 10 Championship, which will be played on the campus of the highest seed on April 15 & 17.

THE SPRING SEASON

The Saint Louis game completes DU's six-game Atlantic 10 schedule.
DU has faced St. Bonaventure (W, 1-0 on Mar. 13; L, 2-0 on Mar. 27), Dayton (L, 2-4 on Mar. 17; L, 1-5 on Apr. 3) and Saint Louis (W, 1-0 2OT on Mar. 20) as part of the West Division of the A-10. Davidson, George Washington, George Mason and VCU comprise the Central and Fordham, La Salle, UMass, Rhode Island and Saint Joseph's will compete in the North.
Saint Louis was picked to finish first in the A-10, with Dayton tabbed tied for second. Duquesne 10th in the poll of league coaches.

THE SERIES VS. SAINT LOUIS

Duquesne's 1-0 (2OT) win in Pittsburgh on Mar. 20 was its first in the 13-game series (SLU leads 11-1-1).
With the win, DU snapped a five-match streak without a goal vs. the Billikens.
In matches in Saint Louis, the Billikens lead 4-0-1.
DU is 1-1-1 in its past three meetings with SLU, including an 0-0 (2OT) tie in the last meeting at Hermann Stadium on Oct. 17, 2018.

FIRST MEETING THIS YEAR

Freshman Maxi Hopfer's golden goal in the 107th minute was the difference in DU's 1-0 win on Rooney Field on Mar. 20.
Hopfer received a pass from Nate Dragisich just across midfield and sidestepped a Saint Louis defender before beating Billiken goalkeeper Patrick Schulte to the left side for the win.
DU goalkeeper Domenic Nascimben stopped seven shots in the win.
The Dukes outshot the Billikens 7-0 in the two bonus periods after Saint Louis held a 20-16 shooting advantage in regulation.
SLU held a 12-8 edge in corner kicks.
Hopfer led DU with six shots. Nate Dragisich and Jordy Lopez had four shots each for the Dukes.

LAST GAME

Dayton scored four times in the second half to defeat Duquesne, 5-1, on Saturday afternoon at UD's Baujan Field.
Jack Shearer netted Duquesne's goal - his first of the season - in the 55th minute.
Shearer's goal made it 2-1 before the Dayton scored three times in an eight-minute span to put the match out of reach.
DU goalkeeper Domenic Nascimben, who faced 22 shots - including 14 on goal, finished with a career-high nine saves.
Shearer, Nate Dragisich and Maxi Hopfer led the Dukes with four shots each. Shearer had two of DU's seven shots on goal.

QUICK HITS

Duquesne is in its eighth season under head coach Chase Brooks. Brooks has led the Dukes to three Atlantic 10 Conference tournament appearances (2013, 2015 & 2016).
The Dukes return three field players who started 10 or more games for last season's 8-8-1 team: senior F Jack Shearer (17/16), junior, D Kendall Newman (12/10) and sophomore M/F /Nate Dragisich (17/16) - a member of the 2019 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team.
In addition, grad student D/M Ryan Landry, who has played in 51 games with 45 starts, but missed last year due to injury and junior D Eric Zech, who started 16 games as a freshman, but was limited to five games last year due to injury, are also back.
In all, DU returns just seven players from last year's roster and nine players with DU experience including Landry and Zech.
Second-year transfer Shearer led all returnees in career games with 52 (35 at St. John's) and career starts with 42 (26 at SJU) entering the season. Landry (45 games) and Newman (27 games) were the only other returnees who entered the season having played in more than 21 games.
Shearer leads all returnees with nine career goals (team-high five at Duquesne last season). Nate Dragisich (2 goals), Ryan Landry (2 goals) and Eric Zech (1 goal) are the only other returnees who entered the season with a goal in a DU uniform.
The Dukes have 19 first-year players including 13 freshmen (one redshirt) and six transfers in junior F Ade Akinjogbin (Wofford), sophomore M Rodrigo Albayeros (Florida Atlantic), sophomore D Jacob Benintendi (Xavier), junior D Jaime Borjas (Graceland U.), junior M Logan Muck (Evansville) and sophomore D Torge Witteborg (Ottawa University-Arizona).
Junior Domenic Nascimben is in his first season as the starting goalkeeper. Nascimben, a native of Sydney, Australia, saw action in one game last season. He entered the season having played in six career games (425 career minutes) with four starts.
Duquesne has produced the ninth-most Men's Soccer Academic All-Americas over the past 20 years.
DU has been recognized by the United Soccer Coaches for its outstanding academic performance with a Team Academic Award (minimum 3.0 team GPA) 18 times in the past 21 years. No other Atlantic 10 men's soccer program has been recognized more than Duquesne since the award was instituted in 1996.
Duquesne produced at least one Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team member in six of the past seven years.

THIS YEAR

Freshman Maxi Hopfer and sophomore Nate Dragisich lead DU with four points each.
Hopfer (2), Dragisich (1), Logan Muck (1) and Jack Shearer (1) are DU's goal scorers this year.
Hopfer leads the Dukes with 26 shots, followed by Dragisich with 17 and Shearer with 15. Hopfer has a team-high eight shots on goal, with Shearer one behind at seven.
Hopfer, the Mar. 22 A-10 Rookie of the Week, has a pair of game-winning goals. His 5.2 shots per game leads the A-10.
Domenic Nascimben has a pair of shutouts (1-0 at St. Bonaventure and 1-0 in 2OT over Saint Louis). His 5.17 saves per game ranks third in the A-10.