Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's soccer team collected multiple postseason awards Tuesday from the Atlantic 10, highlighted by a pair of major awards. In a vote of conference head coaches, redshirt senior
Sam Coss was named the 2026 Atlantic 10 Goalkeeper of the Year, while head coach
Chase Brooks was tabbed the 2026 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year.
In addition, earning 2026 Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team accolades were Coss, redshirt sophomore midfielder
Jameson Michel and redshirt senior defender
Blaize Hardy. Tabbed to the 2026 Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team was senior forward
Cody Da, while redshirt freshman defender
Steel Bayer was selected to the 2026 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team. Finally, joining Hardy on the 2026 Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team is redshirt senior
Jaxon Ervin.
The five honorees for Duquesne across the all-conference first team, all-conference second team and the all-rookie team in 2026 are tied for the most in program history, matching a record established 20 years ago. In 2006, midfielder Travis MacKenzie was named to the first team, defender Noah Salsi, forward Tom Sochacki and goalkeeper Zach Varga earned second team accolades and Alex Trujillo was an Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team selection.
Coss, a native of Bowie, Md., is the first student-athlete for the Dukes to garner Atlantic 10 Goalkeeper of the Year, although a pair of former goalkeepers, including Terry McNelis in 2000 and Varga in 2005, were selected as the A10 Defensive Player of the Year. Coss enters the semifinals of the 2026 Atlantic 10 Tournament against Fordham this afternoon with a goals against average of 0.82 and a save percentage of .778, each of which rank in the top 35 in NCAA Division I, to go along with eight shutouts, the most since Evan Kozlowski posted nine for the Dukes in 2016.
Brooks, a native of Fort Myers, Fla., is in his 14th season as head coach at Duquesne and is bestowed Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year plaudits for the first time. He joins former head coach Wade Jean, a four-time (1999, 2002, 2004, 2005) recipient of the award, including co-A10 Coach of the Year in 2002, in collecting the honor. Brooks, the program's all-time leader in coaching victories, has compiled a record of 106-98-31 (.517) on the Bluff and guided the Dukes to at least 10 wins in four of the last six years. Brooks was also the architect of a Duquesne squad that finished 6-2-0 (.750) in the Atlantic 10 this season, earning its first conference regular-season championship since 2005 as well as its first outright crown since 2004.
Each of the three Dukes to be named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team are first-time honorees. Michel, a native of Columbia, Md., joins Coss and two other players (Ervin and senior
Sergios Feneridis) to start all 17 games for Duquesne this season. Michel ranks second on the team in scoring with 12 points thanks to five goals and a pair of assists while also owning a team-high three game-winning strikes.
Hardy helps anchor one of the top defensive units in the country on the back line. He has started 14 of the 15 games he's appeared in this year and owns an assist, one of 17 players to register on the scoresheet in 2026. Hardy, a native of Queen Creek, Ariz., also earns a spot on the 2026 Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team, as he has compiled a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.86 as a psychology major.
In being selected to the 2026 Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team, Da joins his older brother, Jayden, in earning all-conference accolades on the Bluff. Jayden Da earned second team honors in 2023 after compiling 17 points (seven goals, three assists), while
Cody Da collects his own accolade in 2026 thanks to a team-high 13 points courtesy of six goals and an assist entering Tuesday's tilt with the Rams. The younger Da has also posted a pair of game-winning goals this season.
Bayer, a native of Mechanicsburg, Pa., and a transfer from West Virginia who was redshirted last year as a true freshman, has been spectacular helping anchor the back line on defense in his first season on the Bluff. He became the 12th different player for Duquesne this season to score a goal, as his header at 75:36 helped propel the Dukes to a 1-0 victory over La Salle (11/6) in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Atlantic 10 Tournament.
Ervin, finally, is the veteran presence and co-captain of a Duquesne side that will look to advance to its fourth Atlantic 10 final in program history. He earned his 50th career start in the win over the Explorers in the quarterfinals and overall has appeared in 60 games. The program's active leading scorer with 31 points thanks to nine goals and 13 assists, Ervin was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team for the third consecutive year.
A supply chain management major and a local product from Pittsburgh, Pa., and West Allegheny High School, Ervin has maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.92. He is the first member of the Dukes to garner three straight Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team honors since Joshua Patterson from 2010-12. Overall in 30 years of the A10 All-Academic Team, Ervin is one of seven players from Duquesne to accomplish the feat.
Duquesne will host No. 6 seed Fordham at 1:00 p.m. at Rooney Field in one of two semifinal games of the 2026 Atlantic 10 Tournament. Saint Louis, the No. 2 seed, will host No. 5 seed Davidson at 5:00 p.m.
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