It was hard to tell that the Duquesne men’s soccer team had not played a game in 10 days but an unrelenting attack in the opening 20 minutes did not result in a goal Wednesday night against Saint Francis which ended up costing the home team.
“I think we had the opportunities to win, they were there for us,” Duquesne men’s soccer coach Chase Brooks said. “We could have been up 2-0 but instead it’s 0-0. Every team we play against is good enough so if you’re not finishing your chances, eventually somebody will. That’s what you saw tonight. We’ve got to step up and have someone who wants to put the ball in the back of the net. It’s a mindset.”
A second-half Saint Francis goal was the difference as Duquesne dropped a 1-0 decision, falling to 1-3-0 on the season.
“Lack of desire,” said Brooks of the Saint Francis goal. “We have to win a corner kick. They wanted it more and they got it.”
HIGHLIGHTS: Dukes Fall to Saint Francis U, 1-0 pic.twitter.com/ScDpHO8YSO
— Duquesne Men's Soccer (@DuqMSoccer) September 13, 2018
The Saint Francis tally was scored by Leonardo Ribeiro in the 68th minute after Duquesne failed to clear a corner kick.
In Duquesne’s opening 20 minute charge, starting Saint Francis keeper Jonas Dieseler collided with Duquesne’s Zion Beaton after the former could not cleanly save a shot. Dieseler was replaced by Alex Morgret who had played in two games, but had to come in cold.
Duquesne meanwhile went with its freshmen goalkeeper in Domenic Nascimben who was coming off a shutout against Detroit Mercy.
Brooks did not elaborate much on the decision as Robbie McKelvey who started the opener was not dressed, let alone on the Duquesne bench. Brooks called the decision “in house”.
In the 10 days between games, Duquesne tried to maintain momentum from its decisive win over Detroit Mercy and had some positive results come from that but in Brooks’s mind there certainly was some work to do.
“I thought you saw a lot of successes,” Brooks said. “Our defense is doing pretty well. Yeah we kind of broke down in the first half as they figured us out, but that’s soccer. Soccer is a game of moves and counter moves. I thought we addressed that at halftime and we were all over them again. The goal got scored and I think you saw us kind of deflate a little bit and that’s again where Austin said we need someone on the field who can step up and be the leader. It’s a great learning moment for us which I am excited about.”
Redshirt senior Olav Hovstad did not play but joined his teammates on the sideline with a leg injury. Brooks anticipates that Hovstad will be ready to go for the team’s next contest, Sunday night against Temple.
That contest against Temple is set to begin at 7 p.m. in what is being referred to as “Sunday Night Futbol”.