GAME 4
Duquesne (2-0-1) at Syracuse (2-1-1)
Friday, Sept. 5 | 7:00 p.m.
SU Soccer Stadium | Syracuse, N.Y.
 
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From The Pitch
 
- The Duquesne University men's soccer team continues a three-game road trip Friday with a 7:00 p.m. match against Syracuse at SU Soccer Stadium.
 
- The Dukes opened their road swing with a 3-0 victory over Canisius (8/30) in Buffalo, N.Y., at Demske Sports Complex. Senior forward Dakota Jonke opened the scoring at 16:35 with his second goal of the season and notched the brace at 68:19 to settle the final score.
 
- Also scoring for Duquesne in its win over the Golden Griffins was sophomore forward Roni Badler, who scored on a rebound at 39:24 for his second goal of the 2025 campaign.
 
- Through three games of the year, senior forward Dakota Jonke paces the Dukes in scoring with seven points courtesy of three goals and an assist.
 
- Jonke leads the Atlantic 10 in shots per game (5.00), shots on goal (8) and shots on goal per contest (2.67) and is tied with Martim Sereno of George Mason for the most goals (3) in the conference.
 
- As a team, Duquesne paces the Atlantic 10 in scoring margin (+2.00) and has yielded just a pair of goals thus far. Only Dayton and Saint Louis, which have each allowed just one marker in four games, has allowed fewer goals in the circuit.
 
- The Dukes are led by head coach Chase Brooks, who is in his 13th season leading the program in 2025. Brooks has compiled an overall record of 90-87-28 (.507) at Duquesne and is the program's all-time leader in coaching victories. In his 15th year as a head coach overall, Brooks has posted a mark of 112-93-37 (.539).
 
- A total of seven starters return from 2024, including redshirt junior midfielder Jaxon Ervin and senior forward Dakota Jonke. Ervin finished second for the Dukes last season in scoring with 10 points courtesy of three goals and four assists, while Jonke posted a pair of goals and a pair of assists for six points. Jonke has already eclipsed his point total from a year ago through three games.
 
- The Dukes should also be bolstered by the return of senior Ashton Jell and sophomore midfielder Bendix Bennetzen, who combined for 11 points last season with three goals and three assists. Both Jell and Bennetzen started all 17 games for Duquesne a year ago.
 
- Bennetzen was named to the 2024 All-Atlantic 10 Rookie Team after logging 1,389 minutes last season and tallying four points courtesy of a goal and two assists.
 
- Ervin was one of two Dukes named to the 2024 Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team. A supply chain management major who has maintained a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.92, Ervin was also named to the 2024 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® Team.
 
- Also earning a spot on the 2024 CSC Academic All-District® Team was Jell, who as a marketing major has maintained a 3.95 cumulative GPA. Jell was also honored with the 2025 Leadership Award at the Dukes Awards Show in April.
 
- Duquesne established a new program record last season with 11 consecutive wins at Rooney Field as well as its eight victories at home in 2024. Despite a 3-0 setback to Fordham (11/9/24) in the Atlantic 10 Championship, the Dukes own a mark of 27-4-6 (.811) at Rooney Field since the beginning of the 2021 campaign.
 
Scouting the Orange – Located in Syracuse, N.Y. … Member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) … Has posted a record of 2-1-1 (.625) … The Orange are coming off a 1-0 victory at Yale (9/1) in their last outing, extending their unbeaten streak to three after dropping their season opener, 1-0, at home to Connecticut (8/21) … Three different players have scored the three goals for Syracuse this season, while the defense for the Orange has allowed just two markers … Graduate goalkeeper Thomas Hut has recorded seven saves through four games for Syracuse … The Orange are led by Ian McIntyre (Hartwick '96), who owns a career record of 248-163-83 (.585), including a mark of 141-100-51 (.569) in 16 seasons at Syracuse … During the 2022 campaign, McIntyre guided the Orange to an overall record of 19-2-4 (.595), and Syracuse won both the ACC regular season and conference championships while earning the NCAA Championship thanks a 7-6 win in penalty kicks over Indiana.
 
Veteran Presence – Redshirt senior Diego Chavez has been stout for the Dukes as the starting goalkeeper in the first three games of the 2025 season, registering a pair of clean sheets while posting five saves. A transfer from Colorado Mesa, Chavez has started each of the last 39 games he's appeared in dating back to the beginning of the 2023 season. Chavez is tied third in the Atlantic 10 with Felix Schoene of St. Bonaventure with his two shutouts, trailing just Gavin Krenecki of Dayton and Jeremi Abonnel of Saint Louis, who each have registered three shutouts in four games. Overall during his NCAA career, Chavez owns a record of 20-16-8 (.545) as a goalkeeper.
 
Start Me Up – Earning his first start of the 2025 season as well as the second of his career in a 2-2 draw with Robert Morris (8/24) was sophomore forward Roni Badler, who provided the equalizer at 79:26 to settle the final score. Thanks to the goal, the first five goals for Duquesne during the 2025 season were scored by five different players. Despite coming off the bench in a 3-0 victory at Canisius (8/30) that opened a three-game road trip, Badler picked up his second goal of the year and ranks second for the Dukes in shots (9), trailing only senior forward Dakota Jonke (15).
 
Instant Impact – In addition to collecting the first goal of the 2025 season for Duquesne, freshman midfielder Hákon Dagur Matthíasson set up the second goal of the contest in a 3-0 win over Seton Hill (8/21) at Rooney Field. He fed redshirt junior Jaxon Ervin, who sliced one into the net at 27:21 to give the Dukes a 2-0 cushion. Ervin is Duquesne's active career points leader with 15 points thanks to four goals and seven assists, and the Dukes are a perfect 4-0 when he scores in a game since the beginning of the 2024 campaign.
 
Full Bore – A number of Dukes saw considerable action in their first game at Duquesne in the 2025 season opener against Seton Hill (8/21), none more so than freshman defender Alex Posada. In his NCAA Division I debut, Posada was the only member of the Dukes to log a full 90 minutes and is also the only field player through the first three games of the year to have seen action in all 270 minutes.
 
One – Since the beginning of the 2021 campaign, the Dukes own a record of 30-9 (.769) in one-goal matches after posting a record of 8-1 (.889) last year. Included in that stretch is a 18-3 (.857) record in such games at Rooney Field and a 12-6 (.667) mark on the road.
 
Defense Wins Championships – Playing close games means having a stout defense, something Duquesne excelled at last season. The Dukes finished the 2024 campaign ranked fourth in NCAA Division I in save percentage, finishing at .823 thanks to yielding just 17 goals while notching 79 saves. It's the second time in the last three years Duquesne has finished in the top five in the category, as in 2022 the Dukes also finished fourth in save percentage (.835), also allowing just 17 goals while recording 86 saves.
 
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