Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's soccer team opened its 2026 season Thursday, battling to a scoreless draw with Lafayette at Rooney Field. It marks the first tie to open a season for the Dukes since 2019.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Duquesne almost capitalized less than a minute into the contest thanks to a foul from Lafayette goalkeeper Harrison Wolfrom, which set up a set piece just to the left of the net for the Dukes. Senior
Jaxon Ervin got off a shot that was blocked, while on the rebound
Pepo Bravo fired a shot that was also blocked. A corner kick ensued for Duquesne, and Bravo again found room to unleash a shot, but Wolfrom came up with the save. In the second half, the Dukes also had a golden opportunity at 67:48, with forward
Roni Badler breaking free and within close range, but his shot was high.
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"The energy was really good," head coach
Chase Brooks said. "We knew we were in for a tough game. That's an NCAA Tournament team from last season that barely lost anybody. We had an idea on the style we were going to see. There's a lot of positives to take away in the sense that we created a lot of chances. We probably should've put one away, if not two. That's why you play the early games. You have to figure some things out and get a little bit sharper now as we build toward conference play. We want to make sure teams adjust to us. I thought in the first half we did that. It's a learning process, and I'm proud of the effort for sure."
DEBUT DUKES
A total of four players that made their Duquesne debut Thursday were members of the starting lineup, including a pair that battled back from injuries last season. Senior defender
Sergios Feneridis got the call to start after missing all of last season rehabbing from injury, while
Sam Coss got the start at goalkeeper after not playing all of last year. He finished with a pair of saves, both of which came in the second half. Also in the starting 11 for the Dukes for the first time were redshirt freshman defender
Steel Bayer, a transfer from West Virginia, and redshirt sophomore midfielder
Jameson Michel, a transfer from Maryland.
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"Our sport is all about communication, whether it's verbal or nonverbal," Brooks said. "It's about building relationships and establishing communication. I think you saw from the group, as a whole, we went pretty deep into the bench today. It's a deep group, it's a strong group. They believe in each other and believe in what we're doing. That's going to take us a long way this year."
NOTES
The Dukes finished with 15 shots in the season opener, four of which were on net … The Duquesne defense didn't yield a shot in the first half to the Leopards, who closed the 90 minutes with six shots, including two on goal … A total of 57.1 percent (12-of-21) of the shots in the contest between the two teams came from reserves … Badler fired a game-high five shots in the contest for the Dukes, while redshirt senior midfielder
Jaxon Ervin posted three … All-time in season openers, Duquesne owns a record of 16-12-4 (.563), including a 7-4-3 (.607) mark under Brooks … The last tie in a season opener for the Dukes came August 30, 2019, against Bowling Green, 1-1, in two overtimes at Rooney Field ... Two field players logged a full 90 minutes for Duquesne, as sophomores
Hákon Dagur Matthíasson and
Alex Posada each played the entire contest.
UP NEXT
Duquesne will continue a three-game homestand to open its 2026 campaign at 4:00 p.m. Sunday, August 23, against Bowling Green at Rooney Field.
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