PHILADELPHIA – In a highly physical match-up between a pair of Atlantic 10 teams vying for a spot in the postseason tournament, Duquesne handed the Saint Joseph's men's soccer squad a 2-0 loss on Saturday evening on Sweeney Field. With the loss, the Hawks have now dropped four straight to stand at 6-9-1 overall (3-4-0 A-10) while Duquesne improves to 8-3-4 (3-1-2 A-10).

With nine points in conference play, Saint Joseph's is tied for fifth in the A-10 with La Salle; the Hawks and Explorers will face each other next Saturday. Duquesne jumps into second with 11 points. Eight teams will make the A-10 postseason, slated to run from November 13-16 at Davidson.

"It's a little character check at this point in the season," said head coach Don D'Ambra following the match. "Our backs are against the wall and we have to win against La Salle. How are they going to respond? If we don't step up and play really well against La Salle, then we don't deserve to get to the playoffs. For me, they have shown well enough that we can play and beat anybody. It's just about going out there and doing it collectively as a unit."

After breaking a scoreless match in the 77th minute, the Dukes held a 1-0 lead entering the 83rd minute when Duquesne's Bryan Fegley drew his second yellow card of the night to give the Hawks a man-up advantage for the final 7:01.

Freshman forward Daryus Lake fired off his first collegiate shot early in the 84th minute, but Duquesne goalkeeper Evan Kozlowski came up with the save to keep the Hawks off the scoreboard.

Junior defender Kevin Lockhart, who played a solid match on the wing, had a good look at a header off of a corner kick from sophomore forward Derek MacKinnon, but the Dukes' defensive unit came up with the block in the 89th minute.

57 seconds later, Duquesne's Ryan Landry broke away from SJU's defense and put away the Dukes' second goal of the match at the 89:30 mark.

For the match, Duquesne held a 13-8 advantage in shots, including a 10-6 edge in the second half. Making his first collegiate start, sophomore midfielder Kyle Lochbihler led the Hawks with two shots, landing one on net. Lake added SJU's other shot on goal.

Junior goalkeeper Greg O'Connell (6-9-1, 3-4-0 A-10) made three saves in the full-match effort.

D'Ambra noted a trio of individual, defensive performances that stood out.

"Eric Jordan really stood out with his competitiveness," added D'Ambra. "Kevin Lockhart and Eddie McCusker battled. Some of our defensive guys stepped up and competed well."

Saint Joseph's returns to action next Saturday, October 29 against La Salle. Start time is slated for 7:00 p.m. on Sweeney Field. Prior to the start of the match, the men's soccer program will honor its seven seniors - Jordan, Mori Diane, Ted Foley, Bliss Harris, Jay Higbee, Sam Irvin, and Mike Stuski - in a Senior Day ceremony.

MATCH NOTES: Sophomore Kyle Lochbihler made his first collegiate start, playing 50 minutes in the midfield... Senior midfielder Bliss Harris left the match in the sixth minute and did not return... Senior forward Ted Foley played 41 minutes off the bench, his second-highest minutes total of the season... Freshman midfielder Ramzi Saim played 69 minutes off the bench, his most amount of time on the pitch since September 2... The Saint Joseph's men's soccer program inducted John McIntyre '94 and Sean Vliet '96 into the SJU Men's Soccer Hall of Fame during halftime of the match.