Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's soccer team returned to Atlantic 10 play Saturday and remained unbeaten at home, posting a 3-0 victory over Davidson at Rooney Field. The Dukes improved to 7-3-2 (.667) overall during the 2026 season, including 4-1-0 (.800) in conference play.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Taking advantage of its opportunities, Duquesne found the back of the net three times in the opening 45 minutes, including twice in just over three minutes, which marked the only shots of the first half for the Dukes. The first goal came courtesy of senior
Cody Da, who took advantage of a turnover deep in the Davidson end, broke free and fired a shot that found the upper left corner of the net at 25:48. Just over four minutes later, a misplay from Davidson (3-5-4 | 2-3-0 Atlantic 10) goalkeeper Lucas Beltran allowed senior
Roni Badler, who recently switched his jersey number from nine to 29, to control the ball and collect his first goal of the season at 28:56. Redshirt sophomore
Jameson Michel would punctuate the opening 45 minutes, using defensive pressure to take control and unleash a screamer at 43:11 to beat Beltran for his third goal of the year.
QUOTABLE
"The A10 is just tough," head coach
Chase Brooks said. "There are no easy games. Everybody is good, everyone is coached well. Everyone's got quality. At some point, you just have to find ways to win. Adversity reveals character, and I think that was on full display tonight. The adversity of trying to play through their press, which I think they did a good job with, so we took advantage of what they left open to us and we capitalized. Really good energy and good defensive moments that turned into attacking moments."
THREE STRIKES
The performance in the first half marked the first occasion the Dukes have scored at least three goals in the opening 45 minutes since Oct. 12, 2022, a 5-1 victory over St. Bonaventure at Rooney Field. In that contest, Duquesne scored four times in the first half en route to the win. The goals from Da, Badler and and Michel against the Wildcats also continues a rather impressive streak for the Dukes. Outside of the 2020 campaign, which was shortened, moved to the spring of 2021 due to the global pandemic and featured just seven contests, Duquesne has scored at three or more goals in a half of a game at least once in each of the last nine full seasons. It also marks the first time the program has turned the trick since a 3-1 victory over Detroit Mercy (9/30/25) at Rooney Field, when the Dukes scored three times in the second half.
QUOTABLE
"As you're going through the season it's still just about getting the results," Brooks said. "That's what we were focused on, is trying to win. I think everybody that we put on the field tonight we felt could do that for us, and that's why they saw the field. It truly is a team effort. This whole group is really bought in, and the guys are just working so hard. These guys are giving us everything that we've asked of them, and that usually leads to good things."
NOTES
Davidson owned a 9-8 advantage in shots, with each team posting four shots on target … The Wildcats also owned a 4-2 edge in corner kicks … Redshirt senior
Sam Coss collected his fifth clean sheet of the 2026 season, each of which have come at Rooney Field … Coss has yielded just one goal at home as Duquesne owns a 5-0-1 (.917) ledger on the Bluff this year … Junior
Dan Banks earned his first career start as a member of the Dukes in the win … The strike for Da marked his team-high fifth goal of the year as well as his second game winner … Six of the 14 shots (42.9 percent) for Da this season have been on goal … Sophomores
Steel Bayer and
Alex Posada each played a full 90 minutes … The Dukes are 21-3-3 (.833) at Rooney Field in their last 27 games.
UP NEXT
Duquesne will conclude the 2026 regular season with three of its final four games on the road. The stretch begins Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 6:00 p.m. in Olean, N.Y., against St. Bonaventure.
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