Pittsburgh, Pa. – Senior forward
Maxi Hopfer scored with 1:18 to play to help lift the Duquesne University men's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Mount St. Mary's Tuesday in a non-conference match at Rooney Field. The win, the seventh straight at home dating to last year, improved the Dukes to 6-1-1 (.812) overall and also gave
Chase Brooks his 83rd career victory on the Bluff, the most by a head coach in program history.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
The fireworks in the final five minutes began just before, when Mount St. Mary's (0-6-2) was able to find the equalizer at 84:37 thanks to Junee Lee, who provided a header that got past Duquesne goalkeeper
Zoltan Nagy to tie it up, 1-1. The play was set up by Graham Dougald and Mackie Sacarellos of the Mount. The Dukes, who finished with 10 shots in the second half and had kept the pressure on the majority of the final 45 minutes, were able to break free thanks to the goal from Hopfer. Junior
Ashton Jell found redshirt sophomore
Jaxon Ervin in the midfield, who followed by placing a perfect pass to Hopfer, who had a step on two defenders. Hopfer slid the ball past Mount goalkeeper Julian Marcos and in the process picked up a game-winning goal for the second consecutive game as well as his third marker of the year.
THE OPENER
Scoreless for over 65 minutes, Duquesne was able to break through at 65:31. Good ball movement found forward
Ali Nasser at the top from roughly 30 yards out, and he unleashed a perfect shot that curled into the top left corner of the net beyond an outstretched Marcos.
Bendix Bennetzen picked up the primary assist, while forward
Jack Rhead got the scoring play started. Rhead had just missed giving the Dukes the lead roughly 20 minutes earlier, as he raced past four defenders and fired a rocket that hit the right post.
QUOTABLE
"That's college soccer, isn't it? You just have to find a way to win," head coach
Chase Brooks said. "Ultimately we had some really good moments, and a couple moments we'd like to get back. Ali's strike was absolutely top notch. That was a fun one to see. Maxi is just one of those guys that's clutch. He loves the game, he loves to score and I love having him in the program. You need your big-time players to step up in big moments, and I think that's what you saw tonight all the way around."
AT THE TOP
Brooks, who earned his 100th career victory as a head coach in the 2024 season opener,
a 3-1 win over Seton Hill at Rooney Field, passed former head coach Wade Jean Tuesday for the most wins in the history of Duquesne men's soccer. Jean finished with an overall record of 82-54-15 (.593) in eight seasons on the Bluff from 1998 to 2005. Brooks is in his 12th season leading the Dukes and owns an overall mark of 83-84-26 (.497).
QUOTABLE
"Every win is important and every win is fun," Brooks said. "I don't think any one is more important than the rest. I just told the guys at the end that they're a big part of it. Same thing with the alums, who I'm excited to see this weekend. They're all a part of it. As we continue to try to build a history here that everyone can be proud of, I think it's another step along the path."
NOTES
Duquesne has won seven consecutive matches at Rooney Field, the third longest winning streak at home in program history and the longest since winning 10 straight, a school record, over the final four of the 2004 season and the first six matches of 2005 … The Dukes posted a 15-6 edge in shots, including a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal … The goal from Lee at 84:37 was the first shot on goal of the contest for Mount St. Mary's … Senior
Jesper Moksnes played 90 minutes Tuesday and has not missed a minute all season … Duquesne is 26-8 (.758) in games decided by a goal since the beginning of the 2021 season, including 4-0 this year … Sophomore midfielder
Ben Pleavin earned his first start of the 2024 campaign, logging 77 minutes and finishing with two shots, including one on target.
UP NEXT
The Dukes host Saint Joseph's Saturday, Sept. 29, at 5:00 p.m. at Rooney Field in a return to action in the Atlantic 10 as part of alumni weekend for Duquesne soccer.
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