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Duquesne Recovers For Season Opening Win; Brooks Earns 100th Career Victory

After a preseason which left the Duquesne Men’s Soccer Team feeling quite optimistic about its prospects this season, but 20 minutes in came the first test.

Dakota Jonke went down with an injury and did not return, and a few minutes later, the Dukes conceded a goal off a corner set piece, by not communicating and calling spots to determine where the ball would find its home.

The opponent on the other side was Seton Hill of the PSAC, an opponent which on paper might have brought a certain expectation of how this game would go, but that prejudgment proved far from correct as coach Chase Brooks was quite unhappy on the sideline.

Duquesne was spared from his full ire with a goal coming into halftime and came back from the locker room a far more focused side winning its season opener Thursday by a 3-1 count.

“As a team we have to realize, that it’s not always going to go perfectly,” junior midfielder Grant McIntosh deduced. “I think we came in expecting a clean sheet, lots of goals, everyone getting in and obviously when that changed you have to re-shift your mentality. I think we did good in that. To go down one and find three isn’t easy, so credit to the group.”

That equalizer came off Marko Rasmussen’s feet, after Ali Nasser fired a shot which violently connected with the top of the crossbar. Rasmussen, one of two freshmen from Denmark who Brooks stated prior to the season will contribute, proved him right with the goal to kick off Duquesne’s scoring this season.

“I probably still have a voice because we got the goal before halftime, otherwise I may not have a voice to be able to talk to you now,” remarked Brooks. “Every goal is important so go into halftime tied at worst is what it should have been, it should have been better than that, but you have to learn and grow.”

Prior to that goal, Seton Hill’s Brandon Knapp took a corner which found Esteban Moreira in a play Brooks deemed was “not good enough” on “just basic stuff” for his Dukes.

That cohesion was rediscovered in the second half as Duquesne’s depth started to shine through.

With Jonke not returning, the lion’s share of those minutes went to redshirt sophomore midfielder Jaxon Ervin, who the day after his birthday assisted on Ashton Jell’s first collegiate goal.

Brooks was not surprised by Ervin’s effort because of how he won a points competition during preseason from a combination of tasks both pitch and non-pitch related.

Ervin, he stated is going to be a big part of what Duquesne is doing.

“I think a lot of kids on our team can do it,” Ervin deduced. “We have a lot of depth, and it shows we’re all ready to go and want to do. It was really important for me, the first game of the season, build the confidence. To be able to come out here and get an assist and win 3-1 is great.”

Jell’s goal built off the hardworking reputation he has earned and at an active 19 consecutive starts, is the Dukes player with the longest streak as his 62nd minute goal was the difference in this game.

Maxi Hopfer’s return to the field came not just at full strength, but he found space and beat the Seton Hill goalkeeper for his 19th career goal.

Hopfer’s goal is his first since an Oct. 15, 2022, two-score effort, which were the difference in a victory over Davidson.

The Austrian now has 19 career goals, which place him one away from tying Ask Ekeland, Simon Gomez and Steve Mellor for fourth in program history. It should be noted that Mellor’s statistics are combined with those he had in 2002 at Appalachian State.

Duquesne’s two second-half goals allowed for the team to gain rhythm and have meaningful possession during run of play.

As the game continued, Brooks was able to substitute through the new rules this upcoming season but with the nature of this match he was looser than normal with those who came in.

A total of 21 Dukes saw time on the field.

When the final buzzer sounded, Brooks secured his 100th career win. At Duquesne Brooks now has 78 victories, which is five away from setting a program record.

Unsurprisingly Brooks was his own harshest critic.

“I’ve learned a lot and still have a lot to learn,” he said. “I know that I don’t know everything and just keep learning. Ultimately, I think it took too long to get to 100 wins, about three years too late in my mind, so I’ve got a lot of work to do to get to 200.”

Duquesne’s win came with a lot of the freshmen moved onto campus, allowing some to have their first look at the team.

The Dukes will play Sunday in the first of a doubleheader with the women’s team when they host Canisius at 12:30 p.m. It is expected that all of the athletic teams will be in attendance, creating a unique opportunity.

“Doubleheaders are a really rare opportunity to see both groups play,” concluded McIntosh. “Duquesne needs to come out and see what men’s soccer is about. We’re a good group, a resilient group and deserve some credit. Hopefully we can show that.”

GAMEDAY INFORMATION

Duquesne starters (1-0-0)- Zoltan Nagy (GK), Christoffer Vie Angell, Jack Emanuel, Jesper Moksnes, Dakota Jonke, Bendix Bennetzen, Maxi Hopfer, Ofek Sasson, Ashton Jell, Ali Nasser, Ashwin Menon

Seton Hill starters- Aiden Hollander (GK), Benjamin Nicholson, Brandon Knapp, Ron Klinger, Esteban Moreira, Oscar Heggem, Julian Marker, Vaslis Christodoulou, Brice Gandhi, Ethan Opiela, James Aubrey

Goals- Esteban Moreira SHU (20′), Marko Rasmussen DUQ (1st 31′), Ashton Jell DUQ (1st 62′), Maxi Hopfer DUQ (1st 77′)

Cautions- Benjamin Nicholson SHU 17′, Julian Marker SHU 36′, Ofek Sasson DUQ 36′, Jesper Moksnes DUQ 84′, Toby Dance SHU 86′, Isaac Foster SHU 88′

Shots- Duquesne 17 (10 on frame) Seton Hill 5 (2 on frame)

Corners- Duquesne 5 Seton Hill 2

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