Dukes lose City Game on ice

The Duquesne men's club hockey team got a taste of the big-time on Friday at Consol Energy Center. Unfortunately for them, they also suffered big-time loss to Pitt, 4-1. The Dukes are now 2-3-3 this season.

The Panthers scored first in the second period when forward Robby McDyre beat Duquesne sophomore goalie Dan Symanski. The goaltender appeared to believe he caught the puck, but McDyre saw the reality and swept the puck from in front of the net for a goal.

McDyre's scored his second goal of the evening 24 seconds later.

Duquesne soon responded on a quick lift up into the net from freshman forward Julian Rizza for a power-play goal.

"We were on the power play for a while," said Rizza, who now has two goals and nine points this season. "It was like three minutes, and I was at the hashmarks, and I passed it to John Reichenbaugh, and then he passed it back to me, and it went in."

Pitt dominated on offense and defense, holding the Dukes to 20 shots while taking 27 of their own.

Coach Paul Taibi believes the Dukes are simply going through some growing pains since they have only four seniors.

"We're a pretty young team," Taibi said. "We have nine freshmen, and it's a big transition from high school to college hockey, and it's a big learning curve. Some of these guys have played for as many as three different coaches here, so, we're trying to get everyone on the same page."

Senior captain Greg King agreed.

"We have a lot of young kids coming in to this level," King said. "But we're learning, and as they get more and more comfortable, I feel like we're going to succeed."

Taibi said the pressure of playing at Consol contributed to the Dukes' loss as well. The Dukes entered the rink through the players' entrance where the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury enter their home ice.

The players took photos from the ice on their camera phones before warm-ups began, looking awe-struck and excited for the game to begin.

"I think [during] the first period, we were a little bit nervous, understandably. [There was] a large crowd, and we were playing at Consol," Taibi said.

Now the team is preparing for the 20 games remaining regular season games.

"The young kids need to be adapting to the game" King said.  "Hockey is hockey ... It's really just being in the position ... I feel like it's more of a mental thing [that we need to work on] than a physical thing."

Rizza disagreed.

"[We need to work on] tying the guys up in front of the net, because [Pitt] had a lot of rebound goals today. That's the main thing," Rizza said.

The team plays next at Washington & Jefferson Saturday Oct. 29, then at home at the Ice Castle against West Virginia on Sunday Oct. 30.