PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne women's soccer team (1-0) will look to build off of the momentum of its season-opening win when it plays a pair of non-conference matches this weekend.
 
The Dukes will host Valparaiso (0-2) on Friday, August 27 at 7 p.m. under the lights at Rooney Field (ESPN+). The team will then close out the weekend with a trip to Morgantown to take on No. 12 West Virginia (1-1) at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium on Sunday, August 29 at 5 p.m. (Big 12 Now on ESPN+)
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. VALPARAISO

• All-Time Series: First Meeting

SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. WEST VIRGINIA

• All-Time Series: West Virginia leads, 9-0-2
• First Meeting: Sept. 4, 1996 at Duquesne – Tie-Overtime, 1-1
• Last Meeting: Aug. 23, 2019 at West Virginia – WVU won 2-0 I Recap | Box Score
• Streak: West Virginia +5

GAME NOTES

• The Dukes are coming off of a 3-1 season-opening win against Saint Francis U (Box Score).
• Emma Bundy gave the team the lead in the 21^st-minute, while Karley Steinher scored the eventual game-winning goal in the 39^th-minute. The Dukes notched an insurance marker with a penalty-kick goal by Ashley Rodriguez in the 63^rd-minute.
• Hannah Nguyen notched assists on each of the first two goals against the Red Flash. It was her first multi-point game since posting a goal and an assist versus St. Bonaventure on Oct. 24, 2019.
• Nguyen is the first player with a multi-assist game since former Dukes player Lauren Bell collected two helpers in a 6-0 win over Youngstown State on Sept. 15, 2019.
• Jaimi Araujo had a number of high-percentage scoring opportunities versus the Red Flash. She attempted a game-high seven shots, including five on-goal.
• Araujo's five shots on-target were the most in a single-game since Lauren Bell put five on-net against Seton Hall on Sept. 10, 2017.
• Araujo's seven shot attempts ties for the fifth-most in a single game by a Duquesne player in program history.
• Head coach Al Alvine got an immediate boost from his newcomers in the season-opener. Cami Taylor (Central Michigan transfer) and true-freshman Mackenzie Leeder earned nods in the starting lineup, while Bailey Farabaugh (Robert Morris transfer), Kendall Donati and Mackenzie Clement each came off of the bench in the win. The newcomers totaled 193 minutes of game time for the Dukes.
• Including a 4-0 win over St. Bonaventure to close out the spring 2021 season, the Dukes have scored seven goals in their last two matches. It is the most goals scored in a two-game stretch since 2019 when Duquesne defeated Youngstown State 6-0, before collecting a 2-1 win over VCU in the following contest.
• Valparaiso and Duquesne are meeting for the first time. The Beacons are the 93^rd unique opponent in program history.
• The Dukes are winless in 11 games against teams ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Top-25. Duquesne has been defeated in all five meetings with WVU when it was ranked.
• The Dukes were picked to finish 10^th in the annual Atlantic 10 women's soccer preseason poll announced earlier this month.
• Duquesne is coming off of a 3-5-1 abbreviated season this past spring, in which it played league front-runners Saint Louis and Dayton twice apiece.
• Head coach Al Alvine brings back eight of the top nine players in terms of minutes played.
• Goalkeeper Megan Virgin returns for the Dukes after posting a 2-5-1 mark in the spring. She ranked seventh in the A-10 with a 78.5 save percentage and third with 5.10 saves per game.
• Since 2015, the Dukes have boasted a 39-15-8 record at Rooney Field, while outscoring the opposition by a mark of 107-51 in those matches. 

DUQUESNE HEAD COACH AL ALVINE (Robert Morris '92)

• Al Alvine enters his 10^th season as the head coach of the Dukes in 2021.
• The Dukes' all-time winningest coach boasts a record of 67-74-20 on the Bluff and 33-41-9 in Atlantic 10 play.
• Alvine inherited a three-win team prior to the 2012 season and quadrupled that total in four years.
• He set a program record with 12 victories in 2015 – which included the program's first-ever A-10 Championship and NCAA Tournament bid.
• His teams have totaled 11 or more wins three times during his tenure.
• Alvine has coached four First-Team and three Second-Team All-Atlantic 10 picks, including 2017 A-10 Midfielder of the Year Linnea Faccenda.
• He was named the fifth head coach in Duquesne women's soccer history on December 29, 2011.
• Alvine came to the Bluff after spending five seasons as head coach at California University of Pennsylvania, where he went 73-28-11 – including a 38-2-6 mark over his final two seasons with the Vulcans. 

SCOUTING THE BEACONS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• Valparaiso is searching for its first win of the season after opening with losses to Indiana (Box Score) and Ball State (Box Score).
• Ball State broke a 1-1 tie with a goal right before halftime and added an insurance marker less than eight minutes into the second half to deal the Beacons a 3-1 loss in their home opener.
• Valpo goalkeeper Nikki Coryell played all 90 minutes in both matches. The Spring 2021 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Goalkeeper of the Year allowed just eight goals in 14 matches last season and posted a 0.52 GAA with an .881 save percentage.
• Kelsie James, who led Valpo with eight points (three goals, two assists) in the spring, scored the lone goal for the Beacons in the loss to Ball State.
• James, who was a three-time MVC Freshman of the Week in the spring, earned Honorable Mention All-MVC and MVC All-Freshmen honors following last season.
• Valpo was picked to finish fourth in in the MVC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• The Beacons went 5-4-5 during the spring 2021 season and advanced to the MVC Tournament Championship for the first time in program history.

VALPARAISO HEAD COACH JOHN MAROVICH (Purdue Northwest, '94)

• John Marovich enters his 14^th season as head coach and 21^st season overall at Valparaiso.
• The all-time leader in both wins and winning percentage at Valpo, he holds a record of 103-101-36.
• Marovich became the first coach in program history to reach 100 wins when the Beacons defeated Indiana State this past March.
• Marovich led the Beacons to its most successful season in program history in 2014 when the team went 14-2-4, won both the Horizon League Regular-Season and Tournament Championships, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history.
• He was named the 2014 Horizon League Coach of the Year (Valparaiso moved to the MVC in 2017).
• Marovich joined the Valparaiso coaching staff as an assistant coach in 2002 and was elevated to associated head coach in 2005. He was named head coach of the program in January of 2008.

VALPARAISO UNVEILS NEW NICKNAME

• Earlier this month, Valparaiso announced that it had adopted Beacons as its new nickname.
• Valpo's prior nickname, Crusaders, was permanently retired in February 2021.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• West Virginia opened the season with a 4-0 win over Buffalo (Box Score) on Aug. 19, before suffering a 1-0 loss to No. 4 Virginia (Box Score) on Aug. 22 in Morgantown.
• The Mountaineers, who were ranked No. 12 in the United Soccer Coaches Division I Women's Preseason Top-25 poll, remained at No. 12 when the latest poll was released on Tuesday.
• Four different players for WVU scored in the team's season-opening win over Buffalo, including the game-winning goal by defender Julianne Vallerand. It was ninth career goal for Vallerand and her third-career game-winning goal.
• Against No. 4 Virginia, WVU was unable to overcome a goal in the seventh-minute and lost 1-0 in front of a home crowd of 1,433 fans.
• UVA held a slight edge in shots (4-3), shots on-goal (3-2) and corner kicks (6-5) in the match.
• Mountaineer goalkeeper Kayza Massey made a pair of stops and suffocated another scoring chance from the Cavaliers to keep WVU within striking distance.
• Massey, who is a member of the Canadian Women's U-20 National Team, made a pair of saves in 72 minutes of action in the win over Buffalo.
• The Mountaineers were picked as the preseason favorite in the Big 12.
• WVU is coming off of a 10-3-1 split season in which it reached the NCAA Tournament for the 21^st-consecutive season. West Virginia played conference games in the fall and non-conference games in the spring.
• The Mountaineers return 10 starters from last season, including 2020 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Jordan Brewster. Both Brewster and Massey were named to the 2021 Preseason All-Big 12 Team.

WEST VIRGINIA HEAD COACH NIKKI IZZO-BROWN (Rochester, '93)

• Nikki Izzo-Brown enters her 26^th season as the head coach of the Mountaineers. She is the only head coach in program history.
• She holds a career record of 377-128-56, including a record of 364-123-56 at WVU.
• Izzo-Brown has led the Mountaineers to 10 regular-season conference championships, seven tournament championships, and 21-straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• She led WVU to new heights in 2016 when the Mountaineers went 23-2-2 and finished as the NCAA College Cup Runner-up.
• After defeating North Carolina, 1-0, in the semifinal, WVU fell, 3-1, to USC in the final to finish as the NCAA National Runner-Up.
• Izzo-Brown has never had a losing season as head coach and has led the Mountaineers to 21-consecutive seasons with 10 wins or more.