No. 23 Dukes Travel to UMass Saturday – Duquesne University Athletics

GAME 15

#23 Duquesne (11-2-1 | 5-1-0 Atlantic 10) at Massachusetts (8-3-4 | 3-2-1 Atlantic 10)

Saturday, Oct. 26 | Noon

Rudd Field | Amherst, Mass.

 

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From The Pitch
 
– The No. 23 Duquesne University men’s soccer team travels to Amherst, Mass., for its final road game of the 2024 regular season Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against Massachusetts at Rudd Field.
 
– The Dukes enter Saturday’s match tied atop the Atlantic 10 standings with George Mason with identical 5-1 (.833) conference records. Duquesne and George Mason (11-3-0) are two of three teams in NCAA Division I with 11 wins this season, which leads the country. Pittsburgh, which is also 11-3-0 like the Patriots, is the other.
 
– Duquesne sits fourth in NCAA Division I in winning percentage (.821), trailing only No. 1 Ohio State (.846) as well as No. 8 San Diego and No. 9 Western Michigan, as each have won 83.3 percent of its games. The Buckeyes are 10-1-2 overall, the Broncos have posted a mark of 10-0-5 and the Toreros own a record of 9-1-2.
 
– The Dukes are coming off a 1-0 win over Northern Kentucky (Oct. 22), their 11th consecutive win at Rooney Field dating back to last season to establish a new school record. Senior goalkeeper Zoltan Nagy picked up his second consecutive shutout and sixth of the year.
 
– The only goal in the win over the Norse came at 15:53. A throw-in from redshirt sophomore Ashwin Menon from the far sideline allowed senior Jesper Moksnes to provide a perfect header into the middle of the box that found the foot of senior forward Maxi Hopfer, who laced it past Romeo Paparesta of NKU.
 
– The win over Northern Kentucky concluded a two-game homestand that began with a 1-0 triumph over Davidson (Oct. 19). Redshirt sophomore Blaize Hardy registered his first career goal on a header at 10:48 for the only score of the contest.
 
– Senior goalkeeper Zoltan Nagy is the reigning Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week and has claimed the award three times this season.
 
– Prior to their win over the Wildcats, the Dukes earned a 2-1 victory at No. 13 George Mason (Oct. 12). Senior forward Maxi Hopfer took a feed from redshirt sophomore Blaize Hardy and scored with 17 seconds remaining to give Duquesne just its second win over a ranked opponent in program history.
  
– A 2-1 win over Mount St. Mary’s helped head coach Chase Brooks garner his 83rd career victory on the Bluff, allowing him to pass former head coach Wade Jean (1998-2005) for the most wins in program history. In 12 years at Duquesne, Brooks has recorded a mark of 88-85-26 (.508). Overall in 14 seasons, Brooks is 110-97-35 (.527) as a head coach.
 
– A total of 12 Dukes have registered a point through the first 14 games of the 2024 season, as the assist for redshirt sophomore Blaize Hardy in the win at George Mason marked his first point on the Bluff.
 
– Duquesne will honor its senior class in its final home game of the 2024 regular season Saturday, Nov. 2, when it hosts Fordham at Rooney Field at 7:00 p.m. for Senior Day.
 
Scouting the Minutemen – Located in Amherst, Mass. … Massachusetts sits in fifth place in the Atlantic 10 standings with 10 points … UMass enters Saturday’s game having won its last two matches, including a 1-0 non-conference win over Holy Cross (Oct. 15) and a 2-1 road victory over Rhode Island (Oct. 19) … Massachusetts sits second in the Atlantic 10 in scoring offense (2.27), trailing only Dayton (2.83) … Graduate student Alec Hughes, a forward, leads the Atlantic 10 in goals (11) and ranks second in the circuit in points (23) … Hughes, who is tied for sixth in NCAA Division I in goals this season with Omar Yehya of Utah Valley, Sergio Ors Navarro of West Virginia and Ulfur Bjornsson of Duke, has amassed 100 career total points over the last five years courtesy of 46 goals and eight assists … The 2024 season marks the 10th year for Fran O’Leary, a native of Dublin, Ireland, as head coach at Massachusetts … Duquesne owns a mark of 9-7-5 (.548) all-time against the Minutemen, including a record of 5-3-3 (.591) in Amherst, Mass. … The Dukes earned a 1-0 win over UMass last season at Rooney Field, which snapped a four-game winless streak (0-2-2), as former forward Jayden Da scored the eventual game-winning goal at 11:20.

Maximum Overdrive – Maxi Hopfer has been one of the most consistent scorers for the Dukes during his career on the Bluff, and after a 2023 season where he dealt with injuries, the senior forward is looking to go out on a high note. Hopfer has scored a point in seven of Duquesne’s last eight games after scoring the game-winning goal in a 1-0 win over Northern Kentucky and enters Saturday’s game with career totals of 25 goals, 14 assists and 64 points. Hopfer ranks fourth all-time for the Dukes in points (64) and is just four points shy of moving into sole possession of second place. Former forwards Simon Gomez (2010-13) and Joshua Patterson (2009-12) rank second and third, respectively, in points with 67 and 66.

 

The Magic Touch – While senior forward Maxi Hopfer owns 64 career points, it’s his flair for the dramatic that has him atop the career record book at Duquesne. Hopfer is tied for the NCAA Division I lead this season in game-winning goals with five, joining Marius Stenner of Delaware, Donovan Sessoms of Sacramento State and Bryan Akongo of Rider. The five game-winning markers give Hopfer 12 for his career on the Bluff, a new program standard. The old record of 10 was held by former Dukes David Gingrich (1999-2002) and Damien Pottinger (2000-03).

 

One – Thanks to a 1-0 victory over Northern Kentucky, the Dukes improved to 30-8 (.789) in one-goal matches since the beginning of the 2021 campaign, including a perfect 8-0 mark this season. Included in that stretch is a 18-3 (.857) record in such games at Rooney Field and a 12-5 (.706) mark on the road.

 

Weekly Winnings – Senior goalkeeper Zoltan Nagy is a three-time Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week during the 2024 season and he has become the first player in program history to win three weekly honors from the conference in a season. In addition, Nagy is the third goalkeeper for the Dukes to collect A-10 Defensive Player of the Week accolades three times. He joins the two previous keepers before him in Robbie McKelvey (2016-19) and Domenic Nascimben (2018-22). McKelvey earned his first in 2018 before picking up two more a year later. Nascimben, meanwhile, was selected A-10 Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 20, 2021, and collected two more the following season.

 

Six – In its two losses this season, Duquesne has allowed six goals. In its other 12 games, the defense for the Dukes has yielded six goals, an average of 0.50 per game.

 

Defense Wins Championship – Senior goalkeeper Zoltan Nagy has been the bedrock of a Duquesne defense that ranks second in the Atlantic 10 in scoring defense (0.86), trailing only Saint Louis (0.69). Nagy paces the Atlantic 10 in saves (54) while sitting second in both save percentage (.818) and goals against average (0.89). Nagy, who has started each of Duquesne’s 32 games since the beginning of the 2023 season, owns career totals of 142 saves, a .789 save percentage and a goals against average of 1.21 while compiling a record of 18-9-4 (.645). Among national leaders during the 2024 season, Nagy is tied for 11th in the country in save percentage and is tied for 13th in shutouts (6).

 

Ten – Duquesne picked up its 10th victory of the 2024 season with a 1-0 triumph over Davidson, marking the ninth time in program history the Dukes have amassed at least 10 wins in a season. Duquesne has also won least 10 games in three of the last four years, posting a mark of 40-20-10 (.643) since the beginning of the 2021 campaign. The school record for victories is 13, which has happened five times (1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005).

 

Spot On – Junior Dakota Jonke picked up his first career game-winning goal in a 3-0 win over Rhode Island, as his penalty kick snapped a scoreless tie in the second half. Both of the goals for Jonke this season have come via penalty kick, and the goal was part of a four-point night for the Cleveland, Ohio, native. Jonke also registered a pair of assists in the win over the Rams, becoming the first member of the Dukes this season to score at least four points in a game.

 

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