PREVIEW: Men's Soccer Begins A-10 Play at Home Saturday

PITTSBURGH - The Duquesne University men's soccer team will begin its Atlantic 10 Conference slate on Saturday night at 7 pm on Rooney Field.

THE BASICS

September 16, 2023 | 7:00 PM | Rooney Field (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Massachusetts Minutemen (3-1-2, 0-0 A-10)

Streak: T1 | Roster | Stats | Schedule

Duquesne Dukes (3-1-1, 0-0 A-10)

Streak: W2 | Roster | Stats | Schedule

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

BY THE NUMBERS

Stats Comparison - msoc 9-15-2023 vs UMASS

THE DUKES

Duquesne dropped its season opener at James Madison and has bounced back strong entering conference play without a loss in the last four matches, including back-to-back wins over Niagara (2-1) and Robert Morris (1-0).
After a chippy and defensive minded first half, which led to a red card on the Dukes, Duquesne was able to come back out in the second half and scrape a goal across in the 70th minute by Jayden Da despite being a man down on Wednesday night to defeat local rival Robert Morris. Jaxon Ervin got credited with the assist, his second of the season.

Jayden Da has scored each of the last three goals for the Dukes and four of the last five over the past three matches, which DU has been unbeaten (2-2 vs. Bowling Green, 2-1 win at Niagara, and 1-0 win over Robert Morris)
Da has a team-leading five goals, which averages out to 1.0 per game – the second-best mark in the A-10 and 9th-best in Division I … Three of the five scores have been game winners - the most in the A-10 and third-most in the NCAA … Also recording an assist early in the season, Da's 11 points rank second in the A-10 and 14th in the nation.
The Dukes lead the A-10 in five stat categories and are top 20 in Division I in four of the five … Those include shots on goal per game (8.40) - 2nd in NCAA, shot accuracy (.560) - 5th in NCAA saves per game (5.00) – 19th in NCAA, scoring offense (2.20 goals per game) – 20th in NCAA, and total goals (11).
DU is second in the A-10 and 27th in the nation in assists with 12 … The Dukes have had four assists over the past three goals (two games).
Duquesne goalkeeper Zolton Nagy recorded his first clean sheet as a Duke on Wednesday and ranks 14th in the nation and leads the Atlantic 10 with 24 saves.

Da (14 shots / 10 on goal) and Ask Ekeland (18 shots / 10 on goal) have led the offensive attack early on … Da leads the A-10 with a 71.4% shot on goal percentage, which is also good for 10th in the NCAA, while Ekeland (55.6%) is right behind in second in the conference.
Ekeland and Da are tied for second in the A-10 in shots on goal per game (2.0).
10 players have accounted for the Dukes' 12 assists this season … Anthony DiFalco and Jaxon Ervin have two assists each to lead the team and rank in the top 10 of the conference.

LAST TIME OUT

Four first-half yellow cards culminated with a red card given to Ben Pleavin just three seconds before the halftime whistle putting DU down a man for the entire second half against local rival Robert Morris. Meanwhile, the shots were even at six for both sides.

RMU, who was previously unbeaten, took the first five shots of the second half but Zoltan Nagy and the Dukes defense were there to keep the Colonials out of the back of the net.
Sam Bennett launched a throw-in towards Da. Da deflected it to his teammate Jaxon Ervin, and before Da knew it, he had the ball on his toes, and he made no mistake in slotting it past Gorgenyi to give the Dukes a 1-0 lead with just under 20 minutes to go. This was a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way.  
Despite being outshot 13-9, the Dukes were able to hold a slight edge in shots on goal (5-4).
Nagy came up huge with three of his four saves in the second half, which was enough for a Dukes win and his first clean sheet as a member of the Red and Blue.

THE MINUTEMEN

Massachusetts enters the matchup coming off a 1-1 tie against Dartmouth on its home turf this past Tuesday … UMass is 3-1-2 overall with a 1-1 record on the road this season (L, 3-1 at Brown, W, 3-2 at Providence).
The Minutemen are tied with the Dukes and Loyola Chicago with 11 goals to lead the Atlantic 10 this season.
Senior Alec Hughes has scored the most goals in Division I with seven, while fellow senior Nick Zielonka leads the country in assists with six.
Hughes also leads the A-10 in shots per game (4.17), shots on goal per game (2.17, and total points (14).
Graduate student Matt Zambetti, who was recently the A-10 Defensive Player of the Week, ranks first in the A-10 and 14th in Division I with 24 saves.

The other four goals scored by UMass other than Hughes' seven have been scored by four different players, same with the other five assists other than Zielonka's six.
The Minutemen are led by ninth year head coach Fran O'Leary in his 33rd season as a collegiate coach … O'Leary just picked up his 300th career win last Saturday at Providence.
UMass was picked to finish seventh in the 14-team Atlantic 10 Conference after a preseason vote of the league's coaches.

THE SERIES

UMass leads the all-time series, which dates to October of 1995, with a 9-6-5 record.
This will be the 10th meeting in Pittsburgh … UMass still holds a narrow edge, 4-3-2, at Rooney Field.
The Dukes have not won since 2012 (four straight matches) … The last two matchups have resulted in 0-0 ties, including last season in Amherst.

DUKES IN A-10 OPENERS

Duquesne is 14-9-5 all-time in Atlantic 10 Conference openers … When starting conference play at home, DU is 10-5-4.
Last season, the Dukes downed Loyola Chicago in their A-10 opener, 2-1, at Rooney Field.
Duquesne has won its last four A-10 openers, including each of the last two at home … The Dukes have not lost their first conference match since 2015 (seven straight seasons – ties in 2016 & '18).

HOME SWEET HOME

Duquesne went 6-1-2 last season on its home turf at Rooney Field.
Since the beginning of the 2020 season, the Dukes are 20-3-5 at home.

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 71-76-23 record at DU and is 93-82-32 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.

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