Duquesne Men’s Soccer’s Chavez, Matthiasson receives A-10 honor

Earlier Monday afternoon the Atlantic 10 recognized Duquesne Men’s Soccer redshirt senior goalkeeper Diego Chavez and freshman Hakon Dagur Matthiasson as the conference’s defensive player and freshman of the week respectively.

The pair join women’s soccer’s Maya Matesa as A-10 award winners this season.

Chavez tied for the second most saves for a single game in his collegiate game with nine stops in a 1-0 victory on the road against Syracuse.

His three shutouts rank first among A-10 goalkeepers, while his save percentage is second and goals against average third.

“Above all I thank God for giving me the opportunity and health to perform the way that I did,” Chavez told PSN. “It truly takes a whole roster to get this award and it’s always amazing to see the commitment my defense has to keeping the ball out of the box and out of the net. These awards are always bittersweet because they don’t mean anything if you can’t go the next week and do it again, so the focus is now on securing wins and shutouts this week.”

Matthiasson’s second goal of the season came in the 61st minute as an errant pass was intercepted by Bendix Bennetzen who made the connection which resulted in the low-left score.

Both of Matthiasson’s scores were game winners, one of 32 NCAA Division I student-athletes who can claim that, and his five points through four games rank second on the team.

“He’s just got an old head,” Duquesne coach Chase Brooks stated after the Syracuse win.

“(He’s) levelheaded (with) good composure. To run onto the ball, he ran onto tonight and still have the composure to slot it away with his weaker foot, it’s a big moment.

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PREVIEWING MOUNT ST. MARY’S

Duquesne has its third consecutive road contest Tuesday night at Mount St. Mary’s. It is a rematch from last year’s 2-1 win over Rooney Field.

For the Dukes they will be looking to avoid a letdown, something which plagued the side last season when immediately following a 1-1 draw at Notre Dame, they were met with a 3-0 setback at Robert Morris.

Both Bennetzen and Grant McIntosh spoke to Pittsburgh Soccer Now Saturday afternoon, a day removed from the victory to discuss what the triumph means and how the team looks to move forward together.