PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne women's soccer team (2-3-1) will open Atlantic 10 play against Massachusetts on Sunday, Sept. 19 at Rooney Field. The match is set for a 1 p.m. kickoff and will broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN

• All-Time Series: Massachusetts leads, 15-5-1
• First Meeting: Oct. 27, 1996 at Massachusetts – UMass won, 1-0
• Last Meeting: Oct. 20, 2019 at Duquesne – UMass won, 2-1 I Recap | Box Score I Video Highlights
• Streak: Massachusetts, +3

QUICK HITS

• The Dukes are 11-12-1 all-time in Atlantic 10 openers dating back to 1995 (Duquesne played at the club level in its inaugural season in 1994).
• DU is 10-6-1 in Atlantic 10 openers played at Rooney Field.
• Duquesne has played Massachusetts three times previously in its A-10 opener. The Dukes were shutout in all three of those meetings with the Minutewomen.
• The Dukes are coming off of a 4-0 loss at Buffalo last Sunday (Box Score).
• Despite the score, Buffalo only held a 14-to-13 edge is shots. Both teams put seven on-target.
• Prior to Buffalo, Duquesne was defeated 2-1 by Niagara. After a scoreless first half, all three goals were scored in a 11-minute span in the second half.
• Emma Bundy leads the team and is tied for fourth in the A-10 with three goals. Bundy has scored a goal in each of the team's three home games this season.
• Hannah Nguyen collected her third assist of the season in a win over Youngstown State. She is tied for the league-lead in total assists and also share the league lead with 0.50 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 1.33 goals scored per game. UMass leads the A-10 with 1.43 goals per game.
• DU leads the A-10 and ranks 14^th nationally with a shot accuracy of 59.5 percent.
• The Dukes were picked to finish 10^th in the annual Atlantic 10 women's soccer preseason poll announced last month.
• Since 2015, the Dukes have boasted a 40-15-9 record at Rooney Field, while outscoring the opposition by a mark of 111-54 in those matches. 

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 68-77-21 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 MINUTEWOMEN (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• UMass went 4-2-2 in the non-conference portion of its schedule.
• After opening the season with losses to Penn State and Boston College, the Minutewomen are undefeated in their last six games, including a 1-0 win over Yale this past Wednesday.
• UMass has out-scored its opponents 9-to-3 during the past six games.
• Chandler Pedolzky scored the lone goal in the 15^th-minute of the team's win over Yale.
• Pedolzky is tied for fourth in the A-10 with three goals. She also is tied for the league-lead with three assists and sits fifth in the A-10 with 1.13 points per game.
• Lauren Smida also is tied for the team lead and fourth in the A-10 with three goals.
• UMass was picked to finish fifth in the A-10 Preseason Coaches' Poll released last month.

MASSACHUSETTS HEAD COACH JASON DOWIAK (College of Charleston, '03)

• Jason Dowiak is in his fourth season as the Minutewomen head coach.
• Dowiak has led UMass to the Atlantic 10 Semifinals in each of the past two seasons – a feat that had not been accomplished at the school since 2000.
• The Minutewomen have finished above .500 in each of the past three seasons under Dowiak.
• Dowiak joined the Minutewomen after a successful five-year stint at South Florida where he served as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.
• He also spent two seasons as an assistant at Florida Gulf Coast and was the head coach of Division II Anderson (S.C.) from 2007-2011.