Duquesne goalkeeper Ali Hughes earns A10 Defensive Player of the Week honors

Following back-to-back shutouts, Duquesne University women’s soccer’s junior goalkeeper Ali Hughes was selected as the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.

In collecting her first career weekly honor, Hughes, who seized the starting keeper post in her third season at Duquesne, is now the third member of the Dukes to garner weekly accolades this season.

“I’m really excited about the award, and I know I couldn’t have gotten it without it being a team effort. We have an amazing backline, and Coach Jessie (Giegucz) and Coach Bella (DeFabbo) have worked with us all so much this year,” Hughes told Pittsburgh Soccer Now’s Zac Weiss.

“I know that I can count on my defense and the whole team to step up when needed, so when I‘m called on to make a big save, I don’t want to let the team down.”

The New Kensington native, who played with Century United and at Burrell High School, bided her time in her first two seasons in a reserve role, has made the most of her opportunity as the primary starting keeper for the Dukes this season.

“My confidence this season has grown from playing time and knowing that my coaches and teammates trust me and support me in goal,” Hughes added.

“The 1v1 saves are something I have worked on a lot this year in practices and Bella has helped me improve so much in my form and just being confident enough to come out for the saves.”

In earning the honor, Hughes finished with seven saves and posted a pair of shutouts — starting with a 3-0 victory over VCU on Thursday.

Three days later, Hughes added two more saves as Duquesne earned a 1-0 victory over George Mason (10/5) on Senior Day.

Hughes and the backline have been especially difficult to score against at Rooney Field, where the Dukes are 6-0 and have outscored its opponents, 18-1.

Hughes has been instrumental to the 6-0 start at home for Duquesne. Since Cleveland State scored at 69:40 in an eventual 4-1 victory for the Dukes, Hughes has collected 11 saves in the last four games, posting a clean sheet in each win.

In 13 starts, Hughes has compiled a goals against average of 0.85, a save percentage of .800 and has notched seven shutouts.

She is tied for third in the Atlantic 10 in shutouts with Allison Deardorff of Loyola Chicago, is tied for fourth in goals against average and ranks fifth in the circuit in save percentage.

Hughes joins senior forward Maya Matesa and junior forward Kaitlyn Killinger in collecting an A-10 weekly honor during the 2025 season. Matesa was named the Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week in consecutive weeks to open the year, while Killinger was bestowed the same plaudits Sept. 22.

Led by head coach Jessica Giegucz, in her first year leading the program, Duquesne has compiled an overall record of 9-3-1 (.731), including a 4-1 (.800) mark in the A-10. The Dukes have surpassed their conference win total from a year ago and sit in the third place in the league standings, a game behind Dayton and Saint Louis, which are both 5-0.

Duquesne returns to action Sunday, Oct. 12, in St. Louis, Mo., with a 2:00 p.m. ET start against Saint Louis at Hermann Stadium.