Weiss: Derby Day Provides Feedback For Duquesne, Robert Morris

Photo credit: Pittsburgh Soccer Now/Zachary Weiss

Sunday served as the latest Derby Day with both Duquesne and Robert Morris squaring off in a game which had many different ebbs and flows throughout the run of play, with both sides having to settle for a 2-2 draw on Rooney Field.

This annual matchup came much earlier than usual for each’s respective non-conference slate, the second game for both as rotations, attack and much more very much to be finalized.

“It’s cool for college soccer, cool for the area,” RMU coach Jonathan Potter told PSN after the match. “I don’t think there’s many schools in America that are this close. I have so much respect for Chase and his staff. To have this game year is a fun event for the Pittsburgh soccer community, it’s always a great game. We value the opportunity to compete and I just think college soccer needs more of these types of games and experiences for people to get excited about the teams.”

There is plenty for both teams to take away both in terms of thing to be pleased with as well as correctibles.

Each side has plenty of time to make these change, with Duquesne having six days between games and the Colonials eight. It gives everyone a chance to settle back into a class schedule with everyone back on campus in addition to trying to battle for rotation time.

“You need those times to reflect and watch film,” Duquesne coach Chase Brooks explained. “What can we learn and gives guys and opportunity to show us what they can do for the next week and push for time? Those moments are nice to have and can we keep that intensity high.”

Duquesne

It would have been easy for Duquesne to pack it in after conceding two goals on set pieces, a handful of minutes apart, but immediately Grant McIntosh provided some encouraging words to his team.

While both teams had pockets of attacking moments, there had not been a breakthrough until a throw in went off Dukes goalkeeper Diego Chavez and RMU put the second chance away. Minutes later, Duquesne protested a free kick being taken at the 20-yard line instead of being moved five yards back. Instead, the kick hit off the top-left portion of the crossbar where again the bounce went RMU’s way.

“(It was) definitely more mental and that’s what we talked about at halftime,” offered Brooks. “Set pieces for me a lot of times are about the desire and the attitude to go win the ball and put your body on the line. I think we lacked that a little bit in the first half.”

Duquesne had a similar concession in the meeting a season ago, when RMU scored three times within minutes and during the spring meeting, the Dukes lost once again on a set piece.

Instead, Duquesne hunted for a response, which took just over four minutes to find, when Dakota Jonke scored his first goal of the season on a free kick, also from the 20-yard line.

“It showed that they did it, but we can do it too,” redshirt junior midfielder Jaxon Ervin remarked.

Brooks conceded that the game would have been different had his side been down 2-0 at halftime, but instead it got some momentum and that jolt of energy that showed on the pitch in the second 45 minutes.

Duquesne was on the attack for much of the second half, limiting Robert Morris to one shot before Roni Badler put his first goal in the back of the net in the 79th minute off a feed from Mathieu Brick, a score that proved to be a special one.

“It’s awesome, right,” Brooks pondered. “Those are the moments you want in soccer; the guy is coming off two years of barely playing, the injury, and finds the game-tying goal. That was an awesome moment, and the assist came from a guy that hasn’t seen the field in a while as well, so it was really nice to have those two guys connect on the goal.”

Another clear bright spot for the Dukes was sophomore forward Marko Rasmussen, whose aggressiveness and tenacity were a return to the form he displayed last year prior to an injury. His game-changing ability was on display for all 37 minutes which he played.

There was some disappointment from Duquesne that despite the tying goal, it could not break through. It had a decisive shot advantage, 11-1 in the second half, but in the same vein, five goal scorers have accounted for the five goals and the elevated standard in the second half provides an understanding of what level it will take to achieve success.

“No one wants to go down 2-0, but to be able to do it and come back 2-2 early in the season, it shows us if we do end up going down 2-0 in the future, we have that in us to battle back and that’s very important, especially this early in the season,” said Ervin.

Robert Morris

RMU was ready to use this game as a measuring stick to see where exactly it was at, after a scoreless draw against Mercyhurst in the season opener, it also was ready to see the ball go in the back of the net.

Early on, it was clear that the Colonials not only had a size advantage but wanted to use it to their advantage. Perhaps, this factored into RMU’s strategy to place the ball inside of the box for most of the first half, but its tenacity and second efforts led to multiple goals.

“Set pieces are so critical in the game and we had two set piece goals today,” Potter broke down. “I think early in the season a lot of teams are trying to find their attacking foot so to score on two set pieces is great. Hopefully we can continue that throughout the years because we need goal however they come.”

For most of the early stages of this contest, RMU had pockets, even getting a shot on goal. Its pressure was forcing Duquesne into some turnovers, stunting its attack.

Physicality was clearly going to factor into this game and duels and second balls were going to be crucial for both sides. RMU got the better of that in the first half, though a later whistle setting up Jonke’s free kick brought some life into Duquesne’s attack and the Colonials were trying to counterpunch for the remainder of the period.

RMU had to put on a defensive effort in the second half and pressed up in an effort to hold the Dukes off, but the hosts would not be denied.

“Duquesne really gave us everything they had in the second half,” admitted Potter. “I liked the fight, the never-say-die attitude. We really had to put our shields up and defend in the second half. To see that grit and determination from the guys is positive, we just need to add more volatility to that.

”

For RMU this two-game stretch saw a lot of debuts and Potter came away pleased with his side’s physical competitiveness and defensive efforts. It is hard to gauge just how resilient a team is until it is placed under pressure and that also has passed his test.

“I thought it was a really good early-season test for us,” Potter concluded. “We’ve learned a lot in these first two games and had two really good opponents in Mercyhurst and Duquesne. We get a week to train now and am excited to get back, train and get better for our next game.

”

GAMEDAY INFORMATION

Duquesne starters (1-0-1)– Blaize Hardy, Ofek Sasson, Grant McIntosh, Hakon Dagur Matthiasson, Bendix Bennetzen, Roni Badler, Ashton Jell, Jaxon Ervin, Ashwin Menon, Diego Chavez (GK), Alex Posada

Robert Morris starters (0-0-2)– Josh Lane (GK), Fabian Overkamp, Anass Hadran, Miguel Dominguez, Kevin Gorbell, Jack Bejarano, Victor Koah, William Dodzi Afawumbo, Victor Thompson Jr, Royie Rahamim, Emeric Nicol

Goals– Jack Bejarano RMU 1st 21′, Royie Rahamim RMU 1st 29′, Dakota Jonke DUQ 1st 33′, Roni Badler DUQ 1st 79′

Cautions– Ofek Sasson DUQ 29′, Victor Koah RMU 32′, Emeric Nicol RMU 67′

Shots– Duquesne 20 (7 on frame) Robert Morris 8 (3 on frame)

Corners– Duquesne 5 Robert Morris 1

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