Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's soccer team improved to 4-0 for the second time in the last three seasons Thursday, earning a 1-0 win over Niagara at Rooney Field. It marks the second consecutive 1-0 victory for the Dukes.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Waiting until less than 10 minutes to play to score the game-winning goal in its first road game of the season
Sunday at Xavier, Duquesne wasted no time registering the only marker of the contest Thursday against the Purple Eagles. Redshirt sophomore
Jaxon Ervin, who continues to be in the middle of the offense for the Dukes, placed a perfect cross to junior
Ashton Jell, who fired off a shot that sailed to the right of Niagara keeper Jamie Barry at 2:49. It marked the second goal of the season for Jell, while Earvin picked up his third assist of the 2024 campaign.
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"Super proud of the boys," Jell said. "Couldn't have asked to start in a better way. Niagara came out in the second half and pressed very high as they did in the first half, which made it really difficult for us. As a group it's really important to stay connected, stay together throughout. We battled and fought for every ball and made sure the ball stayed out of the net."
UNDER PRESSURE
Despite the early goal for Duquesne, the Purple Eagles kept the pressure on in the first half, outshooting the Dukes, 8-2. Niagara (0-5) finished with 15 shots in the contest, with senior goalkeeper
Zoltan Nagy up to the task for the second consecutive game. The reigning
Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week, Nagy finished with a season-high seven saves Thursday, including three in the first half and four more after halftime. In registering his second straight shutout, Nagy lowered his goals against average on the season to 0.57 while improving his save percentage to .895.
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"The offense was flowing nicely in the first half," head coach
Chase Brooks said. "We were finding the areas we wanted to find and the structure looked good. As the game intensified and they started to press a little bit higher, that's where we've got to do a better job of solving that. When you've got a guy like Zoltan in goal, I think it gives confidence to everybody behind him. The shots that get through he's going to be there for. He's done a great job, specifically these last two games, in just making sure he's standing on his head and doing what he needs to do."
NOTES
Niagara used just one substitute in the match, with Jeremy Talsma playing the final 15 minutes for the Purple Eagles … Playing a full 90 for Duquesne was senior
Jesper Moksnes, freshman
Bendix Bennetzen and redshirt sophomore
Blaize Hardy … In four matches Moksnes has played 360 of a possible 360 minutes … Felix Kogler registered five shots for Niagara, including three on goal … Arguably the biggest save of the contest came with just over 15 minutes to play, as Kogler arched a shot that witnessed Nagy stretch high to tip the ball away from the goal … Thanks to the win the Dukes improved to 24-8 (.750) since the beginning of the 2021 season in matches decided by one goal, including 14-3 (.824) at Rooney Field … At 4-0, Duquesne has opened its season with consecutive 3-1 victories followed by a pair of 1-0 triumphs ... Earning his first start of the 2024 season on defense was junior
Sam Bennett.
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"Our staff is, to me, one of the best in the country," Brooks said. "You have to be able to adjust. Every game is going to be a little different. Every team is going to adjust to your tactics. You just have to be flexible. We've talked in the past about bending and not breaking. That's more on the defensive side. On the offensive side, it's just finding ways to move forward and taking advantage of the little things teams are going to give you."
UP NEXT
Duquesne heads out on the road for its next three matches, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 10, with an 8:00 p.m. match in South Bend, Ind., at Notre Dame.
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