Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's soccer team opened its 2024 season Thursday, scoring a pair of goals in the second half in a 3-1 win over Seton Hill at Rooney Field.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Tied, 1-1, entering the second half, the Dukes were able to garner the game-winning goal at 62:20 when junior
Ashton Jell found a loose ball in front of the net and buried it into the lower left of the goal to push Duquesne on top. Jell, who is the program's active leader for consecutive starts (19), picked up both his first career goal and game-winning marker.
STATE FARM
The Dukes were able to add their third goal at 76:49, with senior
Maxi Hopfer taking a feed from fellow classmate
Jesper Moksnes and pushing it past Seton Hill goalkeeper Aiden Hollander, who raced out to try and meet Hopfer but misplayed the footrace to the ball. Hopfer, who didn't score during the 2023 season while battling injury and appearing in just six games, picked up his 19th career marker to help seal the victory.
QUOTABLE
"We had to build momentum as we went through this game," head coach
Chase Brooks said. "We knew we didn't start the way we wanted to start. It was nice to see the connection start to form and it was nice to see the guys start to figure it out. Against an opponent that we know on paper we should beat, but that's where soccer is a weird sport in that way. You have to show up every day. Doesn't matter who is put in front of you, you have rise to the occasion and play the game. The guys achieved and did everything we asked of them in the second half."
💯
Thanks to the victory, Brooks picked up his 100th career victory as a head coach. In addition to 78 wins leading the Dukes, Brooks won 22 games in two seasons at Niagara in 2011 and 2012. He is now four wins shy of tying the Duquesne record for most coaching victories in program history, as Wade Jean posted 82 wins on the Bluff from 1998 to 2005.
QUOTABLE
"I think tonight we showed the depth and why we have the squad that we have," Brooks said. "It's a good group of guys. The guys that came off the bench really rose to the occasion. Every goal is important. Jell is hard work personified. Super fit, always there for you. So reliable. It was a great moment for him for sure."
NOTES
The Dukes improved to 15-12-2 (.552) in season openers since 1995, including 6-4-2 (.583) under Brooks … Duquesne is 4-0-1 in season openers at home under Brooks … Esteban Moreira gave the Griffins an early 1-0 lead at 19:58 before freshman
Marko Rasmussen netted the equalizer with his first NCAA Division I goal at 31:25 ... The Dukes used 21 different players in the win, with Moksnes logging all 90 minutes and freshman
Bendix Bennetzen playing 84 … Joining Bennetzen in earning their first start on the Bluff was
Dakota Jonke,
Ofek Sasson,
Ali Nasser and
Ashwin Menon … In 61 minutes off the bench, redshirt sophomore
Jaxon Ervin picked up an assist on the game-winning goal by Jell and registered two shots, including one goal … Senior
Zoltan Nagy earned the start in goal and played the first half, with redshirt sophomore
Sam Coss playing the final 45 minutes and earning the win … Coss posted one save … Duquesne held a 17-5 advantage in shots, including a 10-3 edge in shots on goal.
UP NEXT
Duquesne welcomes Canisius to Rooney Field Sunday, August 25, for a 12:30 p.m. match. It's the opener of a soccer doubleheader, as the women's program will host Bowling Green at 4:00 p.m.
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