Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's soccer team continued a three-game homestand Wednesday, scoring a pair of goals in the second half to snap a scoreless game after 45 minutes en route to a 2-0 victory over Saint Francis at Rooney Field. The Dukes improved to 5-0-2 (.857) overall during the 2025 campaign.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Getting a spark from the bench has become a theme for Duquesne early in the 2025 season, and Wednesday against the Red Flash was no different. Sophomore forward
Roni Badler was the first to cash in for the Dukes, as he took a long feed from senior
Pepo Bravo in the box. His back to the goal, Badler settled the ball before turning around and unleashing a rocket that found the upper right corner of the net and gave Duquesne a 1-0 lead at 52:21. It marked the third goal of the season for Badler.
QUOTABLE
"We know (Roni) is probably the best finisher on the squad," head coach
Chase Brooks said. "Now, it's just about getting all the sides of his game to come together. Once that does he's going to be a very difficult player to stop. We have a talented group top to bottom. We have an athletic group. We have a hard-working group. We have a group that believes in what we're doing, and I think that matters on a night like tonight."
HEAD GAMES
The Dukes added the clincher with just under 11 minutes to play. Awarded a throw-in from the near corner arc, senior
Sam Bennett placed a pass into the box. Redshirt junior
Ashwin Menon provided a header that skipped over to fellow classmate
Jaxon Ervin, who buried a goal with a header of his own to give Duquesne a 2-0 cushion at 79:03. It was also the third goal of the year for Ervin, who is now tied for the team lead in scoring with senior forward
Dakota Jonke with eight points as each has three goals and two assists.
QUOTABLE
"You want to keep the momentum going," Brooks said. "Anytime you can play at home and work to get a result and get lots of guys minutes, it's going to be a good, positive night for you. The guys that came off the bench did a spectacular job. Guys that maybe haven't been in the lineup as much came in and showed that we have good depth within this squad. They like to give me headaches on selection, and that's a good thing."
NOTES
Defensively, the Dukes kept redshirt senior
Diego Chavez clean, not allowing a shot on goal the entire game … Saint Francis (0-5-1) posted just a pair of shots, including one in each half … Duquesne logged 11 shots in the win, four of which were on frame … The shutout for Chavez marked his fifth of the year … Sophomore
Luke Fiscus earned his first NCAA Division I start against the Red Flash and logged a full 90 minutes on the backline … Freshman
Alex Posada had his streak of consecutive games playing an entire game snapped at six, playing 64 minutes … Through seven games, a total of 12 different players have registered a point on the scoresheet … Sophomore
Miles Imparato returned to the starting lineup for the first time since the 2025 season opener, playing 54 minutes against SFU … Bravo played a team-high 62 minutes off the bench.
UP NEXT
Duquesne concludes its three-game homestand at Rooney Field Saturday, Sept. 20, hosting No. 7 Saint Louis in an Atlantic 10 tilt at 7:00 p.m.
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