PREVIEW: @DuqMSoccer vs. George Washington

Dukes host Colonials in Atlantic 10 opener Saturday night

PITTSBURGH - Duquesne (4-2), coming off a 4-0 home win over Canisius on Wednesday, opens Atlantic 10 play vs. George Washington (2-3-1) at 7:00 p.m. Saturday on Rooney Field.

The Dukes, who were picked to finish tied for 10th in the A-10 by the league's coaches, welcome a Colonials team that was picked to finish sixth.

DU, whose two losses have come on the road to nationally ranked Power 5 teams (at Pitt and at Kentucky), moved to 3-0 at home with Wednesday's win over the Golden Griffins.

GW, which is 0-2-1 on the road, is coming off back-to-back 1-0 losses, the first was on Sept. 10 at home vs. Navy and the last was on Tuesday at William & Mary.

THE SERIES VS. GW

Duquesne leads the series 11-9-1, including a 7-2 advantage in matches in Pittsburgh.
DU has won the past seven at home vs. GW, with the Colonials' last Rooney Field win coming on Oct. 18, 1998 (1-0 in OT).
The Dukes have held the Colonials scoreless in the past four Pittsburgh meetings, including a 1-0 win in the last game between the two on Oct. 12, 2019.
George Washington's last goal on Rooney Field came in a 3-1 loss on Nov. 2, 2007.
GW comes to Pittsburgh having scored two goals (both in a 2-1 home win over Liberty on Sept. 7) in its past four games.

LAST GAME

Maxi Hopfer had a foot in every goal in DU's 4-0 win over Canisius on Wednesday.
The Austrian had his second brace of the season (57' & 63') and added a pair of assists to cap a six-point evening.
Nate Dragisich (27') and Zach Mowka (50') also scored - both off passes from Hopfer - as the Dukes outshot the Golden Griffins 22-10.
Domenic Nascimben had six saves in posting his first shutout of the season.

AN AMBITIOUS SCHEDULE
Duquesne's two losses have come on the road to nationally-ranked teams (at then-No. 3 Pitt and at then-No. 17 Kentucky). In addition to the Panthers and Wildcats, DU is facing another team among those also receiving votes in the current United Soccer Coaches Top 25 (VCU). DU also has a third Power Five road game on the schedule (Sept. 21 at Michigan State).

THIS YEAR

Duquesne's 14 goals are its most in a five-game span since 2011.
DU's 14 goal total has nearly tripled the team's total (5) in its seven 2021 spring matches.
Maxi Hopfer, a member of the 2020 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team, leads the Dukes with 14 points - all of which have come in the Dukes' past four matches (a pair of goals and assist on the game-winner vs. Saint Francis, a goal in the 53rd minute at Howard, an assist in DU's lone score at Kentucky and two goals and two assists in the 4-0 win over Canisius).
Hopfer, who leads the Dukes in points (14), goals (5), shots (24) and shots on goal (11), has a pair of braces on the young season (vs. Saint Francis U and Canisius).
Hopfer's 14 points lead the Atlantic 10 (thru Wednesday).
Six players have accounted for the Dukes' nine goals with Hopfer (5), Nate Dragisich (2), Ryan Goodhew (2), Ryan Landry (2) and Zach Mowka (2) as multiple goal scorers.
Ten players have registered at least one assist for DU.
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.
Nascimben had six saves in the opener at No. 3 Pitt, a career high-tying nine in the 4-3 win over Saint Francis U, seven at No. 17 Kentucky and six in a shutout win over Canisius. He also registered his first career point with a secondary assist on the game-winning goal vs. SFU.
DU's 2021 captains are #1 Domenic Nascimben (GK) and #17 Ryan Landry (D/M).

PROGRAM NOTES

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 (58) and career starts (52). Kendall Newman (34 games), Nate Dragisich (30 games) and Eric Zech (28 games) are the only other field players who entered the season with more than seven games of experience in a Duquesne uniform.
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). Cook and Da joined the team this summer, the other six participated in the spring season.
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 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).