PHILADELPHIA – Currently fourth in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings, the Saint Joseph's men's soccer squad (6-8-1, 3-3-0 A-10) returns home to host Duquesne (7-3-4, 2-1-2 A-10) this Saturday, October 22. Start time on Sweeney Field is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Live streaming of the match will be provided via a subscription to the Atlantic 10 Network.
In conjunction with the Saint Joseph's University Alumni Association, the men's soccer program will host its annual Alumni Game at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. To register, please click here. Additionally, former Hawks John McIntyre '94 and Sean Vliet '96 will be inducted into the Saint Joseph's Men's Soccer Hall of Fame during halftime of the match, with the induction ceremony set for approximately 7:45 p.m. To read more on this, please click here. For more information, contact Phil Denne at 610-660-3262 or by email at pdenne@sju.edu.
With nine points, Saint Joseph's ranks fourth in the A-10 behind Saint Louis (5-0), VCU (3-1-1), and St. Bonaventure (3-2-1), while Duquesne is tied for fifth with George Washington (2-2-2). The Atlantic 10 Championship runs from November 10-13 at Davidson's Alumni Soccer Stadium. Eight teams make the postseason tournament. Saint Joseph's was predicted to finish 11th in the A-10 regular-season, per the 2016 A-10 Men's Soccer Preseason Poll. Duquesne was voted eighth.
The Hawks have dropped their last three matches by a combined score of 7-1, while Duquesne is coming in after a 2-2 draw with George Mason this past Wednesday.
Saint Joseph's junior midfielder Matt Crawford leads the squad in scoring with 17 points on a team-best seven goals and team-best three assists. In conference matches, Crawford ranks second in the A-10 in total points (10), ties for second in total goals (4), and ranks third in goals per game (0.67). Senior forward Mori Diane and sophomore forwards Isaac Agyapong and Derek MacKinnon have added two goals apiece, with Philadelphia Soccer Six Rookie of the Week Agyapong netting SJU's first goal in program history against Davidson last Wednesday.
Junior goalkeeper Greg O'Connell (6-8-1, 3-3-0 A-10) sports a 1.24 goals against average and .750 save percentage in all 1380:44 to go with five shutouts.
Duquesne enters Saturday's match coming off of a 2-2 draw with George Mason on Wednesday, where Ian Larson scored both goals for the Dukes. Frederik Borenstein (3g, 2a) leads Duquesne in scoring while Evan Kozlowski (7-3-4, 2-1-2 A-10) owns a 0.86 goals against average and .783 save percentage in all 1368:12 to back a defensive unit that has posted eight shutouts on the year.
In A-10 play, the Dukes opened the season with a scoreless draw against St. Bonaventure, then went on to defeat George Washington in overtime, 1-0, fall at Fordham, 5-0, and defeat VCU, 1-0, before drawing with George Mason.
Duquesne owns a 12-6-0 all-time series edge over Saint Joseph's; the Hawks are 0-3 under the direction of head coach Don D'Ambra, with the last meeting resulting in a 3-0 loss in 2013. SJU's last win over Duquesne was on October 22, 2006, when Jason Lewis '09 put away the match-winner in the 1-0 victory.
