Lauren Nejes & Noah Fries | staff writer & sports editor

The Duquesne men’s soccer team won its fourth and fifth consecutive Atlantic 10 matchup this week, besting St. Bonaventure 4-0 Wednesday before dominating Virginia Commonwealth 3-0 at home Saturday for Senior Day.

The victories brought the Dukes to first place in the A10 standings with a 6-1 conference record. With the matchup against VCU being the final home matchup of the regular season, Duquesne finished the year unblemished at Rooney Field (six wins, one draw).

The Dukes wasted no time leaving their mark in New York, as redshirt sophomore forward Jameson Michel took a feed from junior forward Roni Badler and buried a shot into the lower-right corner just 20 seconds in.

The goal was the quickest opening goal under Head Coach Chase Brooks and his 14 years at the helm, surpassing the goal 49 seconds into a matchup with Dayton in 2021.

Duquesne struck again just over 90 seconds into the second frame, with sophomore midfielder Hákon Dagur Matthíasson putting a shot in off a Bonnies defender for an own goal.

Junior midfielder Dan Banks buried his first career goal in the 65th minute to put the Dukes up 3-0, while senior forward Cody Da tallied his team-high sixth goal of the season in the 73rd minute to seal the dominant win for the Dukes.

Duquesne’s four goals scored in the match were its most scored in an A10 matchup since Oct. 5, 2019, which also was a 4-0 triumph over the Bonnies.

Redshirt senior goalkeeper Sam Coss recorded his sixth clean sheet of the year, his first on the road.

Heading into the Senior Day matchup with VCU, the Dukes honored their latest senior class: Jaxon Ervin, Ashwin Menon, Blaize Hardy and Pepo Bravo.

“I always feel excited when playing with these guys,” Coss said. “Playing on senior night is important. I want to be able to help them get the win.”

With the modus operandi for Duquesne seeming to involve striking early in recent weeks, the squad once again wasted no time setting the tone. Just 6:01 into the game, Michel found the back of the net — his fifth goal of the season — to open the scoring again for the Dukes.

Redshirt freshman defender Steel Bayer fed a deep outlet pass to Ervin, who fed a cross into the box that Michel was able to fire home.

“That is everything for us right now — our ability to start fast, our ability to get after a team,” Brooks said in an interview with Pittsburgh Soccer Now. “If you’re in the lead a minute, five minutes, 10 minutes into the game, obviously it changes the game plan for an opponent. It’s going to really help your cause.”

Duquesne’s unrelenting pressure continued just 13 minutes later when Michel sent a high ball to the near sideline for Menon, who headed it toward the box. Matthíasson capitalized on the opportunity in the 20th minute, redirecting the header past the VCU goalkeeper for the first goal of his young career.

The Dukes generated six shots in the opening 45 minutes while limiting the Rams to three. In the second half, VCU applied heavy pressure with 11 shots, but Coss and the Duquesne defense stood strong. Coss recorded all six of his saves in the final period, his third consecutive shutout.

Junior forward Roni Badler sealed the victory at 87:18, scoring his second goal of the campaign and clinching yet another home win. The triumph also clinched a home game for the Dukes in the A10 Championships on Nov. 6.

“This place is tough to come play,” Brooks told Pittsburgh Soccer Now. “Doesn’t matter who you are. I think that being here for a conference tournament game, especially with this team and the experiences they’ve had, is just nothing but positivity. We’re excited about that.”

The Dukes improved their overall record to 9-3-2 with Saturday’s victory. The squad will travel to State College to take on Penn State in a nonconference matchup Wednesday before closing out the regular season with a conference matchup at La Salle Saturday.

Lauren Nejes can be reached at nejesl@duq.edu

Noah Fries can be reached at friesn@duq.edu