PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne University men's soccer team is set to begin its season on the road with a pair of games at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott Invitational on Thursday and Sunday. The season kicks off playing the hosts James Madison on Thursday at 7:30 pm, then opening weekend wraps up on Sunday with a matchup against Virginia Tech at 12 noon.
The Dukes will look to ride the momentum of a historic season a year ago that featured the program's first national ranking in 17 years. The Dukes return eight starters and nine of their 11 goal scorers from that team that came up a game shy of the A-10 Championship in 2022. Highlighting the returners are preseason all-conference selections Ask Ekeland and Maxi Hopfer, the two leading scorers from the third-highest scoring team in the A-10 a year ago.
Ekeland led the team with eight goals and 17 points in his freshman campaign to earn selections to First Team All-Atlantic 10, the A-10 All-Rookie Team, Second Team Freshman Best XI by Top Drawer Soccer, and the United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region Third Team.
Hopfer, who was also recently named a National Forward to Watch by United Soccer Coaches, netted five goals and assisted on four in 2022. The junior from Styria, Austria has garnered postseason honors from the A-10 in all three of his seasons on the Bluff and he currently ranks seventh in career goals at DU with 18 and is ninth all-time in points with 46.
"I think it's a great group of guys," 11th year head coach Chase Brooks told Pittsburgh Soccer Now. "I think they're bought in, they understand what we're looking for. I think they're really close and that camaraderie is something you need going into the season."
Among the long list of returners, Nate Dragisich – who led the team with seven assists and started all 19 games in 2022 – is back for his senior season. Four seniors makeup this fall's edition of the Dukes, including Tate Mohney, Jacob Casha, and Cameron Territo – all of whom contributed significant minutes last season.
Junior defender Jesper Moksnes will lead the back line, which ranked third in the A-10 in goals against average (0.89) in 2022, after starting every game. He played the full 90 minutes in all but one game, logging a team-high 1,701 minutes on the pitch. The Dukes will have to replace Torge Witteborg, a second team all-A-10 defender who graduated.
Adding to the depth of the roster are 13 newcomers, including six transfers and seven freshman. "The addition of these student-athletes to the already strong group of returning guys, makes for one of the deepest squads we have had on the Bluff during my time," said Coach Brooks.
In goal, Duquesne will have to replace Domenic Nascimben, who started all 19 games a year ago and was named first team all-conference. The Dukes have four keepers that will battle for time in 2023. They welcome Zoltan Nagy, a 6'6" junior transfer from Baldwin Wallace, along with a pair of freshman Jacob Conti and Andreas Nygaard to the roster, while Ethan Smith is back for his sophomore season on the Bluff.
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. After being tabbed tied for seventh in the A-10 Preseason Poll, DU finished alone in second with a 4-1-3 mark. This season Duquesne enters as the 5th ranked team in the preseason coaches poll.
The 11 wins last year were the most by a Duquesne team since 2006 and it was the first time DU posted back-to-back 10-win seasons since 2005 & 2006. Along the way, the Dukes 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)
"There's a lot of good momentum right now," Brooks said to Pittsburgh Soccer Now. "We've got a good deep squad and it's about winning together as a team, as a family as opposed to one or two individuals that are going to take us over the top."
Duquesne will kick off its home season next Thursday (Aug. 31) against Bowling Green. Atlantic 10 play begins on September 16 against UMass at Rooney Field.
Live statistics and video links for all available games will be on the schedule page.
OPENING WEEKEND NOTES
- DU is 12-12-3 all time in season openers (2-8-2 when the opener is on the road).
- The last season-opening win for Duquesne was a 2-1 overtime win at home over Saint Francis to kick off the 2018 season (lost last two openers at nationally-ranked Pitt and tied Bowling Green 1-1 in 2019).
- In September of 1995, the game at James Madison was the first-ever out of state road game for the Dukes.
- James Madison leads the all-time series 2-1-0 ... Matched up for the first time in 22 years last season in Pittsburgh - a 2-0 Duquesne victory ... Teams kicked off the 1995 season against each other at the JMU Invitational - Dukes lost 4-1.
- Virginia Tech leads the all-time series 4-1-0 ... This will be the first neutral site game against Va. Tech ... Last played in 1999, when VT was an A-10 member, was a 1-0 win on the road for the Dukes.
FOLLOW THE DUKES
For the latest news and updates for Duquesne men's soccer, follow @DuqMSoccer on Twitter (X) and Instagram all season.
