Spencer Thomas | editor-in-chief

The Duquesne men’s soccer team was back in action for the first time in 2025 on Saturday, playing against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in a spring season scrimmage at Highmark Stadium on the South Shore. Outclassed by the professional side from start to finish, the Duquesne defense held strong, and only conceded thrice in a 3-0 defeat.

“Obviously I want the ‘Hounds to go on and win the championship this year, so it was nice to see them do what they did to us today,” said Duquesne Head Coach Chase Brooks.

While Duquesne’s game was part of the NCAA’s allotted slate of spring exhibitions, Pittsburgh was preparing for its regular season that begins next month. One week ago, they traveled to Columbus for a closed-door scrimmage against MLS’s Crew. On the 21st, they will travel over to Oakland for a game at the University of Pittsburgh. It’s the first time Duquesne faced the Riverhounds in five years, a contest it lost 2-0.

The game, played in front of the Monongahela River and Pittsburgh skyline, granted players the full urban experience. Boats floated past, and in the 7th minute, a ball was cleared out of the stadium and up against a boxcar of a train that was chugging past.

Brooks explained how his squad valued the opportunity to compete in a professional environment.

“I think it shows you the way, right? All these guys that I have want to be pros as well, so you’ve got to be able to match that type of intensity and play at that type of level,” he said. “That’s still that that next step for a lot of our guys.”

The other added pressure that came for Duquesne was the chance to be seen by professional talent evaluators. Last year, former Duke Nate Dragisich was signed to a professional contract by the Riverhounds.

“It’s always cool to be able to play against the local universities and teams, not only to get them out and play against them, but to look at their players too,” said Riverhounds Assistant Coach Rob Vincent. “We’re always tracking their guys.”

It was Duquesne’s opening action of the spring season, which meant it was the first look at how Brooks wanted to fill the holes left by his all-conference selections; forward Maxi Hopfer and goalkeeper Zoltan Nagy. Given their complete lack of offensive possession, there wasn’t much of an answer for the former.

Dakota Jonke saw most of the action up top. The latter proved to be a bit shakier. Sam Coss opened the game in net but was immediately overwhelmed by the Pittsburgh press. Minutes in, he tried to play the ball at the edge of the box, but lost possession to Riverhounds striker Augustine Williams. Miles out of position, Coss was left to watch as the shot sailed past him and was skillfully cleared of the line by sophomore back Blaize Hardy.

Coss seemed to settle in, and even made a sweet kick-save after a turnover by his back line. However, his afternoon would still end on a rotten note, when in the 43rd minute, he bobbled a Riverhounds attempt and left it free at the penalty arc. He was able to block the initial chance but was helpless as Williams smashed the rebound into a wide-open frame. Aaron Meono came in to play the second half.

With the Riverhounds dominating the possession from start to finish, it certainly wasn’t the typical preseason opportunity for Brooks to set an offensive system. Rather, it was more of a stress test for his back line, and for the most part, they held firm.

They were led from the back by Hardy. Besides the goal-saving play early, he stifled Williams for much of the first half with a few interventions on dangerous looks.

“Blaze has just been so steady since he’s come to us. We were really pleased with this performance,” Brooks said. “Athletically, the size, and he’s just got a composure that we didn’t know we were going to get when we recruited him.”

Pittsburgh did a complete slate of substitutions at the break, but picked up where they left off less than 90 seconds into the second half. Riverhounds Midfielder Robbie Mertz played an out-swinging cross to the edge of the six-yard box, and it was headed in by a non-listed trialist. The mystery man was one of several Riverhounds players competing in their preseason games not under contract, but on a try-out. Those names are not disclosed.

It was another mystery man who scored the Riverhounds’ final goal of the day, launching a shot from outside the box past a hopeless Meono, and that settled as the final score.

“I thought we defended really well overall, outside of some early spring mistakes,” Brooks said. “And it’s a little bit different in the game if you don’t have those two breakdowns… I think there’s positives to build on.”

“They’ve got some quality,” Mertz said. “I think they’ll have a good fall.”