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Preview: Duquesne vs Dayton, 4:30 p.m.

Atlantic 10 Men’s Soccer

Duquesne Dukes (2-3, 2-2) at Dayton Flyers (2-3-1, 2-1-1) 

Saturday, April 3, 2021  |  Baujan Field, Dayton, OH  |  4:30 p.m.

No Live Stream available | LIVE STATS 

PREVIEW / GAMEDAY 

The Dukes remain in the hunt for the Atlantic 10 West Division title, will be looking to avenge a 4-2 St. Patrick’s Day loss to the Flyers in Pittsburgh.

They’ll also be looking to bounce back from a tough 2-0 loss to Saint Bonaventure last week, in which they still controlled much of the play, outshooting the Bonnies, 22-10, but couldn’t convert on their opportunities.

With a win on Saturday, Duquesne would have plenty to play for in its regular season finale at Saint Louis on April 10.

Updates will be available on Dayton’s men’s soccer twitter account and on the match’s live stats platform.

Duquesne Game Notes 


THE SPRING SEASON

  • The Dukes are in the midst of a six-game Atlantic 10 schedule.
  • DU will face St. Bonaventure (W, 1-0 on Mar. 13; L, 2-0 on Mar. 27), Dayton (L, 2-4 on Mar. 17) and Saint Louis (W, 1-0 2OT on Mar. 20) twice as part of the West Division of the A-10. Davidson, George Washington, George Mason and VCU comprise the Central and Fordham, La Salle, UMass, Rhode Island and Saint Joseph’s will compete in the North.
  • The three divisional champions, plus one at-large team will compete for the Atlantic 10 Championship, which will be played on the campus of the highest seed on April 15 & 17.
  • Saint Louis was picked to finish first in the A-10, with Dayton tabbed tied for second. Duquesne 10th in the poll of league coaches.

THE SERIES VS. DAYTON

  • Dayton leads the series 14-7-1, including a 7-1-1 advantage in matches at Dayton.
  • UD has gone 10-0-1 in the past 10 meetings with Duquesne. DU’s last series win came on Oct. 13, 2006 on Rooney Field (2-1).
  • Duquesne’s lone win at Dayton came on Oct. 31, 2003 (DU is 0-4-1 at UD in the five ensuing matches).

FIRST MEETING THIS YEAR

  • Dayton scored four times in the second half – including three times in a late three-minute span – to break open a tight match and defeat Duquesne on March 17 on Rooney Field.
  • DU got a goal from Logan Muck in the first minute and saw it stand until UD’s Adjei Kingsford tied it in the 55th minute.
  • The game remained tightly contested until UD’s Jonas Fjeldberg found the back of the net in the 77th minute. Adjei added his second goal 47 seconds later to make it 3-1. Toluwalase Oladeinbo completed the scoring barrage with a goal in the 79th minute.
  • Nate Dragisich converted a penalty kick in the 90th minute to compete the game’s scoring.
  • Dayton outshot Duquesne 28-21, however the Dukes held a 12-11 edge in shots on goal. DU had 15 corners to eight for the Flyers.
  • Maxi Hopfer and Muck had five shots each for Duquesne. Hopfer tied Dayton’s Adjei for game high with four shots on goal.
  • UD keeper Marc Kouadio was credited with 10 saves.

LAST GAME

  • St. Bonaventure scored twice in the final 18 minutes to defeat the Dukes, 2-0, on Rooney Field.
  • DU outshot the Bonnies 22-10, including a 7-5 edge in shots on goal.
  • Duquesne keeper Domenic Nascimben recorded three saves on the night while St. Bonaventure netminder Justyn Sandhu made seven saves.
  • Maxi Hopfer led DU with six shots while Jack Shearer registered five shots, including two on net.

QUICK HITS

  • Duquesne is in its eighth season under head coach Chase Brooks. Brooks has led the Dukes to three Atlantic 10 Conference tournament appearances (2013, 2015 & 2016).
  • The Dukes return three field players who started 10 or more games for last season’s 8-8-1 team: senior F Jack Shearer (17/16), junior, D Kendall Newman (12/10) and sophomore M/F /Nate Dragisich (17/16) – a member of the 2019 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team.
  • In addition, grad student D/M Ryan Landry, who has played in 50 games with 44 starts, but missed last year due to injury and junior D Eric Zech, who started 16 games as a freshman, but was limited to five games last year due to injury, are also back.
  • In all, DU returns just seven players from last year’s roster and nine players with DU experience including Landry and Zech.
  • Second-year transfer Shearer led all returnees in career games with 52 (35 at St. John’s) and career starts with 42 (26 at SJU) entering the season. Landry (45 games) and Newman (27 games) were the only other returnees who entered the season having played in more than 21 games.
  • Shearer leads all returnees with eight career goals (team-high five at Duquesne last season). Nate Dragisich (2 goals), Ryan Landry (2 goals) and Eric Zech (1 goal) are the only other returnees who entered the season with a goal in a DU uniform.
  • The Dukes have 19 first-year players including 13 freshmen (one redshirt) and six transfers in junior F Ade Akinjogbin (Wofford), sophomore M Rodrigo Albayeros (Florida Atlantic), sophomore D Jacob Benintendi (Xavier), junior D Jaime Borjas (Graceland U.), junior M Logan Muck (Evansville) and sophomore D Torge Witteborg (Ottawa University-Arizona).
  • Junior Domenic Nascimben is in his first season as the starting goalkeeper. Nascimben, a native of Sydney, Australia, saw action in one game last season. He entered the season having played in six career games (425 career minutes) with four starts.
  • Duquesne has produced the ninth-most Men’s Soccer Academic All-Americas over the past 20 years.
  • DU has been recognized by the United Soccer Coaches for its outstanding academic performance with a Team Academic Award (minimum 3.0 team GPA) 18 times in the past 21 years. No other Atlantic 10 men’s soccer program has been recognized more than Duquesne since the award was instituted in 1996.
  • Duquesne produced at least one Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team member in six of the past seven years.

THIS YEAR

  • Freshman Maxi Hopfer and sophomore Nate Dragisich lead DU with four points each.
  • Hopfer (2), Dragisich (1) and Logan Muck (1) are DU’s three goal scorers this year.
  • Hopfer and Dragisich lead the Dukes with 22 and 13 shots respectively. Hopfer has a team-high seven shots on goal.
  • Hopfer, the Mar. 22 A-10 Rookie of the Week, has a pair of game-winning goals.
  • Domenic Nascimben has a pair of shutouts in DU’s past four games (1-0 at St. Bonaventure and 1-0 in 2OT over Saint Louis).

John Krysinsky has covered soccer and other sports for many years for various publications and media outlets. He is also author of 'Miracle on the Mon' -- a book about the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, which chronicles the club, particularly the early years of Highmark Stadium with the narrative leading up to and centered around a remarkable match that helped provide a spark for the franchise. John has covered sports for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, DK Pittsburgh Sports, Pittsburgh Sports Report, has served as color commentator on Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC broadcasts, and worked with OPTA Stats and broadcast teams for US Open Cup and International Champions Cup matches held in the US. Krysinsky also served as the Head Men’s Soccer Coach at his alma mater, Point Park University, where he led the Pioneers to the first-ever winning seasons and playoff berths (1996-98); head coach of North Catholic boys (2007-08), associate head coach of Shady Side Academy boys (2009-2014).

Glory on the Grass

Riverhounds MF Kenardo Forbes

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