PITTSBURGH - The Duquesne University men's soccer team will finish the regular season on Saturday evening hosting La Salle at Rooney Field in a match filled with playoff seeding implications for the Dukes.

THE BASICS 
October 28, 2023 | 5:00 PM | Arthur J. Rooney Field (Pittsburgh, PA) 

Duquesne Dukes (6-6-3, 3-2-2 A-10) 

• Streak: T1 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

La Salle Explorers (5-7-4, 1-4-2 A-10) 

• Streak: T1 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

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

BY THE NUMBERS 

THE DUKES 

• Duquesne took down Wright State on Wednesday thanks to a two-goal performance from Tate Mohney.  

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

• Ask Ekeland leads the Dukes with nine goals, putting him second in the A-10, four of which have been game winners.

• Jayden Da scored his 7th goal of the season in his last appearance against Fordham, placing 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 sixth at 45.2%. 

• Da (1.29) is third in the A-10 in shots on goal per game, while Ekeland (1.19) is right behind him in fourth.

• Ekeland's 1.31 points per game ranks third in the conference. 

• DU is a perfect 5-0-0 when Ekeland scores.  

• The Dukes lead the A-10 in Shot accuracy at a 47% clip. 

• DU has assisted on 17 of its 23 goals this season … Dragisich leads the Dukes in assists with four … three Dukes are tied for second most with three assists… 13 different players have accounted for DU's 25 assists.  

• Duquesne goalkeeper Zoltan Nagy has two clean sheets this season … He ranks 5th in the nation and leads the Atlantic 10 with 78 saves … Nagy's .774 save percentage is good for fourth in the conference.  

LAST TIME OUT 

• Tate Mohney scored two goals in the first 22 minutes to kickstart the Dukes in a 3-2 win over Wright State.  

• Mohney's first goal came at the 15-minute mark when he received a pass for Ask Ekeland from beyond the box. He turned and moved to his right before he fired it to the far-left side of the net past Oscar Juhl-Larsen.  

• The second goal came as a result of a long stretch pass by Ekeland to the left side of the pitch. Mohney made his way into the box, cut to the left, and fired it past Juhl-Larsen.   

• Wright State cut into the lead courtesy of a Brock Pickett goal in the 70th minute. They got one more in the 80th minute thanks to Reece Allbaugh's penalty kick. 

• With his appearance in Wednesday's match, Nate Dragisich broke the program record for matches played with 78, passing Noah Salsi (2003-06), Zach Varga (2003-06), Terry McNelis (1999-02), and Nathan Salsi (1999-02). 

THE EXPLORERS 

• The La Salle Explorers, members of the A-10 conference, are finishing off a disappointing 5-7-4 season.  

• They went 1-4-2 in conference play this season, with their only win coming against George Mason on September 30th.  

• The Explorers are winless on the road in conference play, with the most recent loss being to St. Bonaventure 2-0.  

• Americo Pereira and Yuval Nimrodi lead the Explorers in goals with three apiece. Pereira has the upper hand in points with seven however.  

• Goalie Filip Sabatti has started 15 games for the Explorers this year. In those 15, he has a 1.28 GAA and 49 saves.  

THE SERIES 

• Duquesne is 10-5-1 against La Salle since their first meeting in 2002.  

• Duquesne is a dominant 6-1-1 against La Salle at home.  

• In 2022, the Dukes and Explorers met twice and split. The first one was taken by La Salle 1-0 in the regular season. However, the Dukes came back with a 2-1 A-10 tournament quarterfinal win. Both matchups were at home.  

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 4-2-1 record at home this year.    

ALL-TIME LEADERBOARD 

• With his appearance in Wednesday's game against Wright State, Nate Dragisich is the all-time leader for the Dukes in games played with 78 ... He also 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 is sixth all-time in career matches started at DU with 71 … A start in the match would move Dragisich to a tie for 5th all-time in starts and seeing any action would tie him for 1st in matches played ... Noah Salsi (2003-06) is the all-time leader with 77 starts as a Duke

• 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. .  

AROUND THE A-10 

• The Dukes are currently tied for fifth in the A-10 with 10 points along with UMass and Fordham … DU is just three points back of second place (Saint Louis – 14) and one point behind Loyola Chicago.  

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

• Below is a chart with possible seeding outcomes for Duquesne in the A-10 Tournament: 

• 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 76-82-25 record at DU and is 98-88-35 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.  

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