PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne women's soccer team (2-2-1) will return to Western New York on Sunday, Sept. 12 for its final non-conference tune-up of the season against Buffalo (4-1). The match is scheduled to start at noon and a live stream will be available on YouTube.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN

• All-Time Series: Buffalo leads, 2-3-3
• First Meeting: Oct. 11, 1995 at Duquesne – DU won, 1-0
• Last Meeting: Aug. 29, 2014 at Duquesne – Tied, 0-0 (2OT) I Recap | Box Score

QUICK HITS

• Duquesne and Buffalo are meeting for the third time during Al Alvine's tenure as head coach of the Dukes and ninth time overall. DU is 1-0-2 in the last three meeting with the Bulls and have not lost in the series since a 1-0 setback in 2000.
• Duquesne and Buffalo have two common opponents this season – West Virginia and Niagara. The Bulls opened the season with a 4-0 setback in Morgantown, while the Dukes were defeated 3-0 at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. Buffalo earned a 6-2 win over Niagara.
• The Dukes are coming off of a 2-1 loss at Niagara Thursday night (Box Score).
• After a scoreless first half, all three goals were scored in a 11-minute span in the second half.
• Jaimi Araujo gave the Dukes the lead in the 57^th-minute, but goals by the Purple Eagles in the 59th and 68th minutes were enough to deal Duquesne the loss.
• Araujo's goal was her second of the season and sixth of her career. She is one of three Dukes with multiple goals scored this season.
• Prior to Niagara, Duquesne earned a 2-1 win over Youngstown State with the help of a game-winning goal by Emma Bundy. Bundy leads the A-10 with both 0.60 goals per game and 1.40 points per game. All three of Bundy's goals have been scored at Rooney Field.
• Hannah Nguyen collected her third assist of the season versus Youngstown State. She is tied for the league-lead in total assists and also leads the A-10 with 0.60 assists per game.
• Duquesne has already scored more goals this season (8) as they did during the entire nine-game spring season. DU currently slots second in the A-10 with 1.60 goals scored per game.
• DU leads the A-10 and ranks 15^th nationally with a shot accuracy of 60.7 percent.
• Goalkeeper Megan Virgin has started four of the team's five matches. She is 1-2-1 with a .714 save percentage and a 1.89 goals against average.
• The Dukes were picked to finish 10^th in the annual Atlantic 10 women's soccer preseason poll announced earlier this month.

DUQUESNE HEAD COACH AL ALVINE (Robert Morris '92)

• Al Alvine is in his 10^th season as the head coach of the Dukes in 2021.
• The Dukes' all-time winningest coach boasts a record of 68-76-21 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 BULLS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• After opening the season with a 4-0 loss at nationally ranked WVU, Buffalo has rolled off four-straight wins.
• Buffalo has out-scored opponents 12-to-4 during the winning streak, which includes clean sheets in each of its past two games versus Binghamton and Canisius.
• All-American Marcy Barberic has registered at least one point in each of the games during the winning streak. She leads the Bulls with four goals and has added a pair of assists for a team-high 10 points.
• Barberic was a named to the preseason watch list for the 2021 MAC Hermann Trophy.
• Goalkeeper Emily Kelly has posted shutouts in the past two wins. Kelly only needed to make two stops versus Binghamton and one save versus Canisius to maintain the clean sheets.
• The Bulls were picked as the preseason-favorite in the Mid-American Conference.

BUFFALO HEAD COACH SHAWN BURKE (Mercyhurst, '02)

• Shawn Burke is in his eighth season as head coach of the Bulls.
• He has a record of 71-45-18, including a 41-23-11 mark in the MAC.
• The Bulls are 45-10-8 when playing at home during Burke's tenure.
• Burke led Buffalo to its first-ever MAC Championship and NCAA appearance in 2014.
• The Bulls finished the historic season with an 11-0-1 home record, breaking the program record for home wins and recording the first unbeaten home mark since 1995.
• Burke spent five seasons as an assistant coach prior to taking over the reigns of the program.

 UP NEXT

• The Dukes will enter Atlantic 10 play with a two-game homestand with matches against Massachusetts and league-favorite Saint Louis.
• Duquesne will host the Minutemen on Sunday, Sept. 19 at Rooney Field at 1 p.m.