PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne women’s soccer team hits the road for the first time in 2022 as it heads to University Park, Pa., to battle the Penn State Nittany Lions Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET.
The game will be broadcasted on B1G+ ($) and live stats will be available.
SERIES BREAKDOWN
- All-Time Series: Penn State leads, 3-0
- First Meeting: Oct. 18, 1995 at Penn State – Penn State won, 7-0
- Last Meeting: Aug. 19, 2018 at No. 4 Penn State – Penn State won, 6-0 I Recap | Box Score
- Streak: Penn State, W3
QUICK HITS
- Duquesne was picked to finish in 10th place by the league’s coaches, tied with George Washington, in the annual Atlantic 10 women’s soccer preseason poll.
- The Dukes return eight starters from the 2021 season, including five of their top six scorers.
- DU opened its season Thursday with a 2-1 comeback victory against Ohio at home.
- Senior midfielder Sarah Wilkinson and freshman forward Maya Matesa scored the goals to give Duquesne its season-opening win.
- The Dukes went 0-7-1 on the road in 2021 and 2-3 in 2020.
- Sophomore forward Emma Bundy led the team and ranked third in the A-10 with 1.33 points per game and 0.556 goals per game despite playing just nine games due to injury.
- Junior forward Jamie Araujo, who also missed time due to injury last season, scored four times and had 10 points on the season. Her and Bundy look to lead the Dukes’ attack in 2022.
- Sophomore defender Karley Steinher missed the last six games of the season, but still managed to rack up nine points and three goals last year.
- Senior defender Ashley Rodriguez started all 16 games last year and tallied the most minutes on the team with 1,483. She scored on two penalty kicks in 2021.
- The Dukes averaged 1.188 goals per game last season, which ranked fifth in the A-10.
- Duquesne ranked fourth in the A-10 with 6.00 shots on-goal per game and fifth with 11.69 shots per game.
- The team was disciplined in 2021, committing the second-least amount of fouls in the conference with 129.
DUQUESNE HEAD COACH AL ALVINE (Robert Morris ’92)
- Alvin is in his 11th season as the head coach of the Dukes in 2022.
- The Dukes’ all-time winningest coach boasts a record of 71-82-22 on the Bluff and 35-48-10 in Atlantic 10 play. His career mark stands at 201-147-40.
- Alvine inherited a three-win team prior to the 2012 season and quadrupled that total in four years.
- He set a program record with 12 victories in 2015 – which included the program’s first-ever A-10 Championship and NCAA Tournament bid.
- His teams have totaled 11 or more wins three times during his tenure.
- Alvine has coached four First-Team and three Second-Team All-Atlantic 10 picks, including 2017 A-10 Midfielder of the Year Linnea Faccenda.
- He was named the fifth head coach in Duquesne women’s soccer history on December 29, 2011.
- Alvine came to the Bluff after spending five seasons as head coach at California University of Pennsylvania, where he went 72-28-11 – including a 38-2-6 mark over his final two seasons with the Vulcans.
SCOUTING THE NITTANY LIONS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)
- Penn State is coming off a 12-8-1 2021 season that ended in the NCAA Sweet-16 with a loss to South Carolina.
- The Nittany Lions were 7-2 at home last season
- In PSU’s first game of the season it tied with No. 19 Georgetown at home, 2-2.
- PSU was picked as the Big Ten co-favorite along with Rutgers this season. The Nittany Lions finished in sixth place in the regular season last year with a 5-5 conference record.
- Penn State has made it to 15-straight NCAA tournaments.
- Senior forward Penelope Hocking, senior forward/midfielder Payton Linnehan and senior forward Ally Schlegel were named Big Ten Players to Watch this season.
- Schlegel’s 24 points last season were good for seventh in the conference.
- Penn State averaged 1.905 goals per game last season, which was good for second in the Big Ten.
PENN STATE HEAD COACH ERICA DAMBACH (William & Mary, ’97)
- Dambach is in her 15th season as the Nittany Lions’ Head Coach.
- She has posted an overall record of 243-84-23 while leading PSU.
- Dambach led PSU to its first NCAA title in 2015 and has made the NCAA Tournament 15-straight seasons.
- She has won 11 Big Ten regular season titles and four Big Ten Tournament titles.
- She is a five-time Big Ten Coach of the Year and a 2012 Soccer America National Coach of the Year.
- PSU’s leader has experience coaching the U.S. National Team from 2004 through 2021.
- Dambach graduated from William & Mary in 1997 and is a member of its Athletics Hall of Fame.
FOLLOW THE DUKES
For the latest news and updates for Duquesne women’s soccer, follow @DuqWSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.
