Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's soccer team saw its 2026 season come to a close Tuesday in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament with a 5-2 setback to No. 6 seed Fordham at Rooney Field. The Dukes conclude the year with an overall record of 10-6-2 (.611).
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
The Rams took advantage early, scoring twice before the game was 10 minutes old. The first goal came courtesy of Gavin Flickinger, who took an outlet pass from Bruno Cellerino down the far sideline before slicing it past redshirt senior goalkeeper
Sam Coss to give Fordham a 1-0 edge at 5:41. Less than three minutes later, Flickinger got in on the assist act, as his header off a corner kick found Arne Michaelis, who converted at 8:25. The lead eventually swelled to 3-0 at 23:35 on the first of three goals from Cellerino, who finished with seven points in the win for Fordham.
NEVER QUIT
Despite entering the second half trailing, 3-0, Duquesne applied the pressure in an effort to get back in the game. The Dukes got on the board at 51:22, as junior midfielder
Dan Banks corralled a pass in the box and used some fancy footwork to beat a defender before lifting a shot with his left foot over Fordham goalkeeper Shayon Kashi for his second strike of the campaign. Duquesne was able to score again, this time courtesy of redshirt senior
Jaxon Ervin, who provided a header that found the back left of the goal at 73:11. Momentum in favor of the Dukes, Fordham was able to quiet the rally just over two minutes later, with Bruno Cellerino getting behind the Duquesne defense and beating Coss at 75:38 to again give the Rams a two-goal advantage. Cellerino would cap the victory by scoring at 82:13 to garner the hat trick.
QUOTABLE
"The first 45 we know is not up to our standard," head coach
Chase Brooks said. "Ultimately, the guys responded. They're up, 3-2, and you think maybe, okay, here we go. Battled back really well, but you can't give up the fourth goal. We broke a little bit too easily. Those guys that still have time left in their career, you have to learn from this moment, continue to move forward and take the medicine today. We started slow, a little flat. Obviously, as a staff, we have to sit down and figure out why that was and what lesson can we learn going into next fall to see if there is a way we can improve that."
THANK YOU
Tuesday marked the final game in the career of four Dukes, including Ervin,
Ashwin Menon,
Blaize Hardy and
Pepo Bravo. Ervin played four seasons on the Bluff and appeared in 61 career games, including 51 starts, and tallied 33 career points thanks to 10 goals and 13 assists after his header Tuesday against Fordham. Menon saw action in 50 games over three seasons at Duquesne, including 48 starts, and tallied 12 points thanks to four goals and four assists, while Hardy started 36 of his 41 career games with the Dukes and capped it by being named to the 2026 Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team. Bravo also played four seasons at Duquesne, earning 20 starts among his 47 career contests and notching four assists.
QUOTABLE
"I've learned that, we, at Duquesne, have the ability to compete with anybody in the country," Brooks said. "We kind of knew that already, but to go out and get the regular-season title this year was absolutely fantastic. There's a lot of belief that can be taken away from that. You've seen it the last four or five years with the seniors, when they've been on the Bluff, it's been some of our best seasons up here. It's outstanding everything they gave to the program. We'll constantly reflect, we'll constantly learn and make sure none of those guys are forgotten any time soon."
NOTES
Fordham is 7-0-4 (.692) against Duquesne since the last win for the Dukes in the all-time series, which came in 2012 … The Rams also ended the year for Duquesne in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship, 3-0, thanks to a hat trick from Daniel D'Ippolito … The five goals are the most the Dukes allowed all season in a game … Duquesne held a 18-13 edge in shots but trailed, 6-4, in shots on frame … The Dukes owned a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks … Fordham will travel to No. 2 seed Saint Louis Saturday, Nov. 14, for a 5:00 p.m. match for the 2026 A10 Tournament title.
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