Marie Jubert | The Duquesne Duke
The Duquesne men’s soccer team played with tact, energy and passion on Sunday afternoon en route to a crushing 4-0 victory over George Washington University just two days removed from a 1-0 defeat against Virginia Commonwealth University on Friday. The scoring onslaught and shutout showcased the talent and depth of a team that has only dropped one home game this season.
The Dukes were able to take the lead early on during the game with a goal in the ninth minute of play from senior defender Nick DiSomma. DiSomma’s header was assisted by midfielder, Dorian Kouame. The goal gave DiSomma his second of the season and Kouame’s sixth assist. The Dukes did not look back from there, cruising to a shutout.
After losing on Friday, Coach Chase Brooks reiterated the need for a fresh gameplan.
“On Friday we didn’t play well, so today we needed to go out and be us and reinforce what we do best. It all came down to the fact that we executed today,” he said.
Sophomore defender, Mamadou Traore believed that bouncing back in Sunday’s game was vital to the team’s success down the road.
“We played with a lot of energy since we were angry about Friday’s game, and we used Friday’s game as motivation today to play better and to win,” stated Traore.
Sophomore midfielder Chris Alescio was the second Duke to score in the game. He notched a goal of his own off of a 20-yard shot that deflected over the goalkeeper in the 50th minute. He said his strategy coming into the game was simple.
“We needed to come in and play our own game. We know that we’re better than every team in the conference,” Alescio said.
Traore scored shortly after Alescio in the 59th minute of play on a header that was assisted by Thomas de Villardi.
“Thomas put the first post and I ran for the ball and scored,” Traore said. The goal is Traore’s third of the season and gave Villardi his second assist.
The fourth goal of the game came on an own goal. GW defender Matthew Scott deflected a header into his own net to give the Dukes a commanding 4-0 lead.
The team’s overall performance was electric as the Dukes dominated George Washington mostly due to the team’s ability to control the possession and limit GW’s shot opportunities. The Dukes were able to put up 16 shots whereas GW attempted nine shots during the duration of the game. Sunday’s win was the third shutout of the season for goalkeeper Sam Frymier.
“We were able to knock the ball around today, and keeping possession was paramount to today’s game day execution,” Brooks said.
Duquesne is now 2-2 in the Atlantic 10. Brooks knows that the team will have to maintain a high level of play the rest of the way through the A-10 schedule.
“All of the upcoming matches will be difficult,” Brooks said. “Davidson is a Top-25 caliber team.”
However, Alescio knows that the team has what it takes to remain a competitive threat in the A-10, so long the team sticks to what they do best.
“We’ve battled hard but sometimes I think that we respect the opponent too much. Other times though we go hard, pounce on the opponent, play with high intensity and get to it,” he stated. “We’re better than or just as good as every other team, and we know that we can really hang with every team. I believe that we can play confidently going forward after today’s performance.”
Traore also believes that the team has what it takes to remain competitive and maintain this success. “We can keep this momentum going by being quick with the ball, playing just as we did today, and by staying positive as a team.”
Duquesne will travel to North Carolina to play Davidson College on Friday, Oct. 31. The Dukes will return to Rooney Field on Sunday, Nov. 2 to play La Salle University at 2:30pm.
