Duquesne men's soccer opens its 27th season at No. 3 Pitt on Thursday, Aug. 26 at 8:00 p.m. (ACCN) at Ambrose Urbanic Field. The Panthers, who are coming off a 16-4 (9-1 in the ACC) fall/spring season, enter this season ranked 3rd in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll.

DU went 2-5 (2-4 in the A-10) in a abbreviated 2021 spring schedule.

The third-ranked Panthers, who have been picked to finish first overall and first in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference, are the highest ranked team a Duquesne team has faced.

Duquesne is 12-11-3 all-time in season openers, including a 2-7-2 mark when opening on the road. DU is 4-2-2 in opening games under ninth-year head coach Chase Brooks (1-2-1 on the road).


THE SERIES VS. PITT

• Duquesne's lone nonconference game of the 2021 spring season was at No. 4 Pitt on Feb. 27. The Panthers won that game, 1-0, on a penalty kick goal in the 36th minute. DU played the final 22 minutes of that match a man down.
• This is the second regular-season meeting between the Dukes and Panthers since Sept. 16, 2012.
• Pitt leads the series 8-0-2, including a 5-0-1 record at home.
• The last four matches between the two have been a 0-0 tie at Duquesne (2008), a 1-0 Pitt win at home in 2011, a 2-1 Pitt victory at Duquesne in 2012 and February's 1-0 Pitt win at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

VS. RANKED TEAMS

• Duquesne is 1-4-1 all time vs. ranked teams.
• The Dukes defeated #23 Rhode Island in an Atlantic 10 matchup on Oct. 20, 2018 on Rooney Field.
• Head coach Chase Brooks is 1-3 vs. ranked teams at Duquesne (3-2 home loss to #12 Oregon State on Sept. 11, 2015, a 1-0 loss at #17 Kentucky on Sept. 30, 2016 and a 1-0 defeat at #4 Pitt in February).
• This is Duquesne's second game vs. a Power 5 school since the Kentucky game in 2016 (the other was at Pitt in February).

AN AMBITIOUS SCHEDULE
Duquesne is scheduled to face four teams either ranked (#3 Pitt & #14 Kentucky) or among those also receiving votes (Dayton & UMass) in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25.


QUICK HITS

• Duquesne is in its ninth season under head coach Chase Brooks. Brooks has led the Dukes to three Atlantic 10 Conference tournament appearances (2013, 2015 & 2016).
• The Dukes return 10 of 11 starters from the 2021 spring roster including M/F Ade Akinjogbin, M Rodrigo Albayeros, D Jacob Benintendi, M/F Nate Dragisich, F Maxi Hopfer, D/M Ryan Landry, D Kendall Newman, D Eric Zech and GK Domenic Nascimben. In addition, D Jaime Borjas started all four games he played in the spring.
• A total of 15 players made their Duquesne debut in the spring.
• DU returns just six players from its 2019 roster.
• Fifth-year defender/midfielder Ryan Landry leads all returnees in career games played (52) and career starts (46). Kendall Newman (34 games), Eric Zech (27 games) and Nate Dragisich (24 games) are the only other field players with more than seven games of experience in a Duquesne uniform.
• Dragisich, a member of the 2019 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team, leads the Dukes with three career goals. Maxi Hopfer, who earned a spot on the 2020 A-10 All-Rookie Team in the spring and Landry are the only other Dukes with multiple goals (two each). Logan Muck and Zech are the only other DU players with a goal.
• The Dukes have eight transfers in junior M/F Ade Akinjogbin (Wofford), sophomore M Rodrigo Albayeros (Florida Atlantic), sophomore D Jacob Benintendi (Xavier), junior D Jaime Borjas (Graceland U.), sophomore M Harper Cook (American), freshman F Jayden Da (Washington & Jefferson), junior M Logan Muck (Evansville) and sophomore D Torge Witteborg (Ottawa University-Arizona).
• Junior Domenic Nascimben played every minute in net in the spring for the Dukes. Nascimben, a native of Sydney, Australia, stopped 34 shots in seven games. His 4.86 saves per game ranked 11th nationally.
• Duquesne has produced the 14th-most Men's Soccer Academic All-Americas (11) 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) 19 times in the past 22 years. No other Atlantic 10 men's soccer program has been recognized more than Duquesne since the award was instituted in 1996.
• Duquesne has produced at least one Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team member in seven of the past eight years including current roster members Ryan Landry (2016), Nate Dragisich (2019) and Maxi Hopfer (2020).

CAREER LEADERS ENTERING 2021

Goals
Nate Dragisich (3), Maxi Hopfer (2), Ryan Landry (2), Logan Muck (1), Eric Zech (1)
Assists
Nate Dragisich (7), Ryan Landry (6), Ade Akinjogbin (1), Eric Zech (1)
Points
Nate Dragisich (13), Ryan Landry (10), Maxi Hopfer (4), Eric Zech (3)
Games
Ryan Landry (52), Kendall Newman (34), Eric Zech (27), Nate Dragisich (24), Domenic Nascimben (13)
Starts
Ryan Landry (46), Kendall Newman (30), Eric Zech (26), Nate Dragisich (23), Domenic Nascimben (11)

Logan Muck (43/25) played in 36 games with 21 starts at Evansville
Ade Akinjogbin (27/19) played in 20 games with 14 starts at Wofford
Rodrigo Albayeros (13/0) played in seven games at Florida Atlantic
Harper Cook played in 12 games at American