PITTSBURGH - The Duquesne University men's soccer team is set to get its home portion of its 2023 schedule underway tomorrow night taking on Bowling Green at 7 pm.

THE BASICS 

August 31, 2023 | 7:00 PM | Rooney Field (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 

Bowling Green Falcons (1-1, 0-0 MVC) 

• Streak: L1 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

Duquesne Dukes (1-1, 0-0 A-10) 

• Streak: W1 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

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

BY THE NUMBERS 

THE DUKES 

• Duquesne battled to a 1-1 start to the season at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott Invitational last weekend, hosted by James Madison. DU fell to the hosts 3-1 in the season opener on Thursday, then downed Virginia Tech in convincing fashion, 5-1, on Sunday.  

• Ask Ekeland recorded a hat trick, scoring each of the final three goals in the win over Virginia Tech. It was the sophomore's first collegiate hat trick and the fourth time in program history a Duke has scored three or more goals in a game. 

• Ekeland was named the first Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week for this season and leads the A-10 with three goals … Ekeland is in an early nine-way tie for second in the NCAA for goals scored. 

• Duquesne had eight assists on opening weekend by six different players … Three goals featured secondary assists. 

• Jayden Da, Cameron Territo, and Christoffer Vie Angell all found the back of the net once to round out the six scores for DU over the first two games. 

• Ekeland (6 shots / 4 on goal) and Da (4 shots / 4 on goal) lead the offensive attack early on … Da is one of 15 players in Division I men's soccer to have a 100% shot on goal percentage. 

• Zoltan Nagy, a junior transfer from Baldwin Wallace, played both games in goal for DU … Nagy made 12 saves for a .750 save percentage, while facing 27 shots … 12 saves and an average of 6.0 per game are the best goalie marks in the A-10 after opening weekend and rank 7th and 9th in the NCAA. 

LAST TIME OUT 

• Duquesne fell behind early, after a 20th minute score by Virginia Tech, but four unanswered goals by the Dukes led to a convincing win over the Power-Five and former A-10 foe. 

• The shots were nearly even in the match (16-15 DU / 9-7 DU on goal), but Duquesne was able to capitalize. The Dukes outshot the Hokies 12-8 in the final half of play, and they scored on a third of those shots taken.   

• Christoffer Vie Angell tied things up in the 34th minute off a dish from Jesper Moksnes. 

• After the halftime break, Duquesne came out firing and never looked back. Jayden Da got the scoring started seven minutes into the second half, then Ask Ekeland followed two minutes later and added two more for good measure in the 61st and 75th minutes. 

• The Dukes defense fended off 11 corner kicks in the match. 

THE FALCONS 

• The Bowling Green Falcons, in their first season as members of the Missouri Valley Conference after 30 seasons in the MAC, downed Cleveland State in its season opener at home last Thursday (3-2) then fell to Michigan State (3-0) on the road on Monday. 

• Andrew Shaffer, a sophomore midfielder, scored two of BGSU's three goals in the season-opening win. Eli Shope netted the other, while Trace Terry recorded a pair of assists. 

• Bowling Green returns 11 letterwinners, including seven starters, from the 2022 Falcon squad that went 6-5-5 overall and finished third in the Mid-American Conference with a 4-2-2 league ledger. Head coach Eric Nichols and his staff welcomed 14 newcomers on the 2023 roster. 

• Senior Brendan Graves returns after playing every second between the posts last season. His GAA (0.63, obviously) was the third lowest in the 'modern' era (since 1980). Graves was the MAC's co-Goalkeeper of the Year and was named to the All-MAC First Team. 

• The 2022 Falcons set a school record for fewest goals allowed in a season, surrendering just 10 in 16 matches. BG's team goals-against average of 0.63 was the second-lowest in school history, and the lowest since 1991. 

• Bowling Green was picked to finish third in the MVC preseason poll … Brendan Graves and Alberto Anaya were named preseason all-conference. 

THE SERIES 

• The Dukes and Falcons are all square in six historical matchups, tied up at 2-2-2. 

• Last time these squads met was Aug. 30, 2019 … Ended in a 1-1 tie after double overtime at Rooney Field. 

• In Pittsburgh, Duquesne leads the series 1-0-2 with a win in 2014 and ties in 2019 and 2009. 

• A team has scored more than one goal in just two of the six meetings (3-2 DU win in 2014 and a 3-0 DU win on Sept. 8, 2002 – which was also the first meeting between these two teams). 

HOME SWEET HOME 

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

• Over the last three full season, the Dukes are 19-3-4 at home. 

HOME OPENER HISTORY 

• The Dukes are 7-2-1 under Coach Brooks in home openers (since 2013). 

• DU has won each of its last two home openers (3-2 double OT victory over RMU in 2021 and 2-0 win over James Madison last year). 

• The Dukes opened their home slate against Bowling Green once before in 2019 … Result was a 1-1 tie. 

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. 

• Nate Dragisich is currently 3rd all-time at Duquesne in career assists with 19 … Simon Gomez (2010-13) is second with 27 and Derek MacKenzie (2001-04) is the all-time leader with 28. 

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 69-76-22 record at DU and is 91-82-31 all-time as a head coach including two seasons at Niagara … In A-10 play Brooks is 29-36-13. 

• 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 

• The Dukes will be off for more than a week until they hit the road to take on Niagara in Niagara Falls, N.Y. on Saturday Sept. 9. 

• The next home game for DU will be Sept. 13 against Robert Morris at 7 pm. 

FOLLOW THE DUKES 

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