Addie Smith and Saúl Berríos-Thomas | The Duquesne Duke
Junior runningback Ryan Ho is helping the Dukes to success.
With conference play coming up soon for Duquesne’s fall sports teams, we at The Duke thought we would recap their seasons thus (for volleyball, see page 8) to make things easier come conference play and the Atlantic-10 tournaments for each sport.
Duquesne men’s soccer
The Duquesne men’s soccer team may be Duquesne’s most prolific fall sport thus far. They’ve started the season 4-1 and have received votes in collegiate soccer’s top 25 polls. The Dukes endured their first loss 1-0 last Friday to Georgetown, who is ranked no. 3 overall in the nation. This new mindset for the men’s soccer team under new head coach Chase Brooks appears to be working, showing that this “new era” for the Dukes is not a fluke, but something to help them to succeed in the A-10 tournament this November.
A-10 Prediction:Third in regular season, eliminated in semi-finals at the A-10 tournament.
Duquesne men’s and women’s cross country
With the remainder of September off after the men’s team won and the women’s team came in second at the Richmond Spider Alumni Open on Sept. 6, the Dukes are looking strong. Their next challenge will be the Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 5. The Dukes have strength not only in their top runners, but their others as well, evidenced by their victories already on the books and the mentality of these teams for the remainder of the season.
A-10 Prediction: Men’s team third at A-10 tournament, women’s team fourth.
Duquesne football
The Duquesne football team only has two games under its belt, one loss and one win, but have shown promise in both games for an NEC title run. Their next opponent is Youngstown State, who they take on this weekend and was famous for upsetting Pitt two seasons ago on Heinz Field. Overall, the Dukes have the capability to be one of the best teams in the NEC with many different pieces on both offense and defense to assist them.
NEC Prediction: Second overall.
Duquesne women’s soccer
The Duquesne women’s soccer team is mired in a season long struggle that doesn’t seem to have an end in sight. So far this season they have been outscored 7-2 and they haven’t even faced some of the powerhouse on the schedule yet. The good news for the Dukes is that this season will strengthen the young players and prepare them for battle next season. And head coach Al Alvine will have another year to recruit a team condusive to his style of play.
A-10 Prediction: 12th in regular season, won’t qualify for A-10 tournament.
