Duquesne Men’s Soccer draws with Lafayette In season opener

The Duquesne Men’s Soccer Team opened its season Thursday on Rooney Field against Lafayette, an NCAA Tournament with a scoreless 0-0 draw.

“The energy was really good,” Duquesne coach Chase Brooks summarized.

“We knew we were in for a tough game. That’s an NCAA Tournament team from last season that barely lost anybody. We had an idea on the style we were going to see. There’s a lot of positives to take away in the sense that we created a lot of chances. We probably should’ve put one away, if not two. That’s okay, that’s why you play the early games. You have to figure some things out and get a little bit sharper now as we build toward conference play. We want to make sure teams adjust to us and change the way they play. I thought in the first half we did that, the second half a little bit less. It’s a learning process, and I’m proud of the effort for sure.”

Three takeaways

1. Prior to the season, Brooks discussed the standard and for much of the game it was Duquesne dictating play. From the first minute that proved to be the case as there were several opportunities.

While none were capitalized on, that action allowed for Duquesne to be the aggressors which it took advantage of for much of the first half.

“I thought we adapted well, we’ve seen that kind of press before, so it wasn’t really new to us,” redshirt senior goalkeeper Sam Coss explained. “We were able to get the ball up when we needed to and kept it calm when we needed to.”

The middle stage they possessed the ball well in pockets, but the strong communication gave just a bit and slowed the attack. Captain Ashwin Menon saw it unfold and challenged his teammates to communicate with each other.

“Our sport is all about communication, whether it’s verbal or nonverbal,” noted Brooks. “It’s about building relationships and establishing communication. I think you saw from the group, as a whole, we went pretty deep into the bench today. It’s a deep group, it’s a strong group. They believe in each other and believe in what we’re doing. That’s going to take us a long way this year.”

In the final portion of the half Duquesne made some substitutions and found its attack once again.

2. The goalkeeper competition led to a final result of Coss, a returner, who has been with Duquesne by way of Syracuse University prevailing.

The Bowie, Maryland native has been affected by the injury bug and had previously played in the second half of a 2024 contest against Seton Hill.

“I think I am proud of myself for how long I’ve been at it, battling injuries and how long I just stuck with it, pushing to high expectations of myself,” Coss composed. “I think at this time in my life I am ready and will do my best to stay healthy and keep going from there.”

Another returning Duquesne player also saw the pitch after missing last season in Sergios Feneridis. Steel Bayer, a West Virginia transfer started his first career game after redshirting the 2025 campaign. Jameson Michel did not appear in a game last season either but was part of Thursday’s starting 11.

3. This is a tie that in the moment may have stung if only because Duquesne had the better overall run of play. Lafayette was held without a shot for the entire first half, but this is a learning moment for a team which had four goals in its final exhibition game on Saturday and could not quite do the same a few days later.

Brooks throughout the years has often talked about having a bend-don’t-break mentality and that was put to the test in the second half.

“We knew they were going to come out with energy after halftime, and I think that we responded ‘well’ in quotations,” Brooks assessed. “The energy was still there, so didn’t concede, gave up only a few shots our goalkeeper didn’t have a ton to do, which is a good day at the office. Now, we just have to convert on the other end.”

Pepo Bravo had a good look off a corner kick and Roni Badler from point-blank range from inside of the box but neither found a home in the back of the net.

Of its 15 shots, Duquesne had four on target.

As many on the roster walked back to the locker room, one individual stopped, surveyed the past 90 minutes and offered very quick thoughts, only briefly breaking stride.

“We move forward,” he said.

Duquesne was determined to start its season with a win and fell short in that area, but with a late-Sunday afternoon kick back at home against Bowling Green, the turnaround time provides a chance to build upon Thursday’s result.

Box Score

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WOMEN’S SOCCER EVENS RECORD WITH TRIO OF FIRST-TIME GOALS

Not to be outdone, the women’s soccer team continued its season with the second of three road games, besting Cleveland State 3-0, while moving to 1-1 as a result.

The Dukes overcame a start in which it conceded the first five shots of the game, two of which caused Hughes to dive and jump respectively.

Duquesne recorded a single shot on goal in the first half, but it ended up being senior transfer Kiley Johnson who had the honors off a Brynn Ramsey corner set-piece to place the Dukes in front 1-0.

Freshman Allison Bechtel came off the bench and was a beneficiary of Ramsey’s cross into the box which bounced off a Vikings defender, good for the second goal in this contest.

Nine minutes later, junior Zoe Fries, a local, Chartiers Valley product tracked down a ball Kaitlyn Killinger fired towards the top of the box. Fries beat the CSU keeper to the spot and got the goal.

Fries, who did not see action last season, recorded an assist in a Sept. 2, 2024 victory over Slippery Rock and this result saw her pound the pitch in excitement before immediately being swarmed by teammates.

Duquesne improves to 8-0-0 early on in year two of the Jess Giegucz era when it scores multiple goals in the second half of a match.

Next up is a contest in Morgantown Sunday afternoon against #20 West Virginia.

Box score

Zac Weiss