PITTSBURGH - The Duquesne men's soccer team wraps up non-conference play Wednesday night at Rooney Field against Wright State.

THE BASICS 

October 25, 2023 | 7:00 PM | Arthur J. Rooney Field (Pittsburgh, PA) 

Duquesne Dukes (6-6-3, 3-2-2 A-10) 

• Streak: T1 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

Wright State Raiders (3-7-4, 2-4-1 Horizon) 

• Streak: L3 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

GAMEDAY COVERAGE
Watch Live on ESPN+  |  Follow Live Stats  |  Gameday Central 

BY THE NUMBERS 

THE DUKES 

• The Dukes are coming off of a historic 2022 season, returning stars like Maxi Hopfer, Ask Ekeland and Nate Dragisich among others.  

• The Dukes' three goals in their last home match against George Washington was the most they've had in a single game since their 5-1 victory against Virginia Tech on August 27th.  

• Duquesne picked up a point in their last match versus Fordham, drawing them 1-1.  

• Ask Ekeland leads the Dukes with eight goals, putting him second in the A-10. 

• Ekeland and Jayden Da both have 3 game-winning goals this season.  

• Jaydan Da scored his 7th goal of the season last time out against Fordham, putting him third in the A-10.  

• Da has put over half his shots on target at 58.1%, good for first in the A-10 … Ekeland is right behind in fourth at 43.6%. 

• Da (1.29) is third in the A-10 in shots on goal per game, while Ekeland (1.13) is right behind him in fourth. 

• Da's 1.21 points per game ranks fifth in the conference. 

• DU is 3-1-2 when Da scores, with wins against Virginia Tech, Niagara and Robert Morris. 

• The Dukes lead the A-10 in Shot accuracy at a 46.8% clip. 

• DU has assisted on 15 of its 20 goals this season … Dragisich leads the Dukes in assists with four … two Dukes are tied with three assists… 12 different players have accounted for DU's 21 assists. 

• Duquesne goalkeeper Zoltan Nagy has two clean sheets this season … He ranks 6th in the nation and leads the Atlantic 10 with 72 saves … Nagy's .774 save percentage is good for fourth in the conference.  

LAST TIME OUT 

• The Dukes tied Fordham 1-1 on the road, picking up a crucial conference point.  

• Nate Dragisich found open space downfield and ended by feeding Da, whose shot from the angle found the inside of the left post to put the Dukes up, 1-0. For Da it marked his seventh goal of the season.  

• Fordham was able to find the equalizer at 84:29 when Daniel D'Ippolito scored his fourth of the year on an assist from Sigfus Arnason. 

• The Dukes pulled into a tie with Fordham for sixth place in the conference standings with 11 points with one conference game to go against La Salle on Saturday.  

THE RAIDERS 

• The Wright State Raiders, members of the Horizon League, scuffled out the gate in conference play, going 2-4-1 and 3-7-4 overall. 

• Their two conference wins came against Milwaukee at home and Green Bay on the road.  

• Wright State has dropped three straight games coming into this one, losing to Bellarmine (0-1), Oakland (0-5) and Detroit Mercy (1-2).  

• The Raiders are 1-5-1 on the road this year.  

• Cole Werthmuller leads Wright State in goals with four and in points with 8.  

• The Raiders have a -11 goal differential.  

• Goalie Alessandro Malterer has a 1.45 GAA with 40 saves on the season.   

THE SERIES 

• The Dukes are 1-4-1 against the Raiders overall since first meeting in 2014.

• The sides drew 1-1 in 2022 after Duquesne won 2-1 a year prior.  

HOME SWEET HOME 

• Since the beginning of the 2020 season, the Dukes are 22-5-5 at home.    

• Duquesne went 6-1-2 last season on its home turf at Rooney Field.   

• Duquesne touts a 3-2-1 record at home this year.    

ALL-TIME LEADERBOARD 

• Maxi Hopfer is currently 7th all-time at Duquesne with 18 goals scored over his career … Simon Gomez and Steve Mellor lead Hopfer by two with 20 career goals … Damien Pottinger (2000-03) holds the top spot in the record book with 38. 

• Hopfer is also 9th in career points with 46 … Four back of 8th place held by Dave Kovalcik (1995-97, 99) … Damien Pottinger (2000-03) also has the most points all-time with 89. 

• Hopfer moved up to fourth all-time in career shots after opening weekend … His 168 shots trail third place by 21, as Simon Gomez (2010-13) has 189 … Joshua Patterson (2009-12) took 220 in his career to lead all DU players. 

• Hopfer has seven game winning goals in his career, the 6th most in DU history. Steve Mellor (2002-05) is in 5th with 8 game winners … Damien Pottinger (2000-03) and David Gingrich (1999-02) are tied for the lead with 10. 

• Hopfer saw his first game action since the season opener on September 30th, playing 26 minutes, after battling an early-season injury. 

• Nate Dragisich is currently 3rd all-time at Duquesne in career assists with 23 … Simon Gomez (2010-13) is second with 27 and Derek MacKenzie (2001-04) is the all-time leader with 28 ... Dragisich will become the all-time leader in matches played (78) for the Dukes if he sees any action in Wednesday's contest passing Noah Salsi (2003-06), Zach Varga (2003-06), Terry McNelis (1999-02), and Nathan Salsi (1999-02) all tied at 77 ... Dragisich is sixth all-time in career matches started at DU with 71 … A start in the match would move him into a tie for 5th all-time in starts ... Noah Salsi (2003-06) is the all-time leader with 77 starts as a Duke.  

AROUND THE A-10 

• The Dukes are currently tied for sixth in the A-10 with 11 points alongside Fordham … DU is just three points back of second place (Saint Louis – 14) and two points out of the top-four. 

• The highest Duquesne can climb is a tie for second, and the lowest they can fall to is eighth.  

• For a full schedule of A-10 games this week click here and for full standings click here. 

• The top eight teams earn a bid to the A-10 Championship tournament, with the top-four seeds hosting an opening-round match. 

PRESEASON POLL 

• Duquesne was picked to finish fifth in the Atlantic 10 this season. Forward Maxi Hopfer and midfielder Ask Ekeland were named to the A-10 Preseason All-Conference Team. 

• DU totaled 144 points in the preseason poll, just two behind fourth place, VCU. Saint Louis took 13 of the 14 first place votes and totaled 195 points to be deemed the favorite after winning the A-10 title in 2022. Loyola Chicago, who beat the Dukes in the semifinals last season, grabbed the only remaining first-place vote and was picked to finish third, while Dayton claimed the second spot. 

HOPFER NAMED NATIONAL FORWARD TO WATCH 

• Junior forward Maxi Hopfer was named a National Forward to Watch by United Soccer Coaches this preseason. Hopfer has been a two-time All-Southeast Region selection by the United Soccer Coaches and has garnered A-10 postseason honors in each of his three seasons with the Dukes (All-Rookie Team in 2020, First Team All-A-10 in 2021, and Second Team All-A-10 in 2022). 

LOOKING BACK AT 2022 

• The 2022 Dukes, who finished 11-4-4, were in contention for the regular season A-10 crown down to the final game of the season. The Dukes, who were tabbed tied for seventh in the A-10 Preseason Poll, finished alone in second with a 4-1-3 mark. 

• The 11 wins in 2022 were the most by a Duquesne team since 2006. It was the first time DU posted back-to-back 10-win seasons since 2005 & 2006. 

• Along the way, the 2022 Dukes, who got off to the first 5-0 start in program history and set a record for most games without a loss to open a season (6-0-2), became the first Duquesne team since 2005 to earn a national ranking. DU appeared in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 for three weeks, reaching a high rank of No. 24 on Sept. 27. 

ABOUT THE COACH 

• Duquesne is led by 11th year head coach Chase Brooks. 

• Brooks is second all-time in program history with 69 wins and has accounted for three of the program's five postseason wins – all in the past two years. 

• Coach Brooks holds a 75-82-25 record at DU and is 97-88-35 all-time as a head coach including two seasons at Niagara … In A-10 play Brooks is 32-38-15. 

• Brooks has led the Dukes to five Atlantic 10 Conference tournament appearances (2013, 2015, 2016, 2021, & 2022), including an A-10 Championship game appearance - the program's first since 2002 – in 2021. 

ACADEMIC HONORS 

• DU has been recognized by the United Soccer Coaches for its outstanding academic performance with a Team Academic Award (minimum 3.0 team GPA) 21 times in the past 24 years. No other Atlantic 10 men's soccer program has been recognized more than Duquesne since the award was instituted in 1996. 

UP NEXT 

• Duquesne will finish out their regular season at home with a high-stakes A-10 matchup against La Salle on Saturday at 5 p.m.
   

FOLLOW THE DUKES 
For the latest news and updates for Duquesne men's soccer, follow @DuqMSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.