Men’s soccer drops game in final minutes

The sun was shining, and the Duquesne men's soccer team (2-2-1) held a late lead against Air Force (3-1) at Pitt's Ambrose Urbanic Field Sunday morning. But as the sky darkened, so did the Dukes' hopes at victory.

Deadlocked at one going into halftime, it wasn't until mid-way through the second that either team would find another realistic chance at a goal.

In the 64th minute, midfielder Julio Perez broke the tie with an unassisted shot past Air Force goalkeeper Matt Underwood from 15 yards out to put the Dukes up 2-1.

Just when it seemed like Duquesne had the game in hand, the Fighting Falcons responded when midfielder John Melcher found forward Garrett Getschow streaking down the middle of the field, resulting in Getschow burying a shot past an outstretched Colin Thorp in the 79th minute to knot the game up at two.

Just a minute later, Air Force took advantage of a stunned Duquesne defense when forward Zachary Modly nailed the game-winning header off a pass from midfielder Kevin Durr into the upper-left corner of the net to give the Falcons a 3-2 advantage.

Air Force's late surge and a 1-0 loss to Bowling Green in double overtime Friday left captain defender Adam Clement frustrated with the team's performance.

"We've dominated games. We've had the majority of the possession and the majority of the shots, and we still lost these games," Clement said. "I feel like some people didn't go out of their way to put it all on the line today."

The Dukes' held a 17-10 shot advantage, including 10-4 in the second half, but weren't able put Air Force away in the game's final stanza.

"They say the last 20 minutes are the hardest, and I think we proved that today," Clement said. "We have to learn how to focus on what's happening now."

Duquesne's inexperience may have played a factor in the game's outcome, as they played 10 freshmen throughout. Freshman Austin Lange continued to be one of the more aggressive players on the team this weekend, registering three shots in the game against Bowling Green. But his aggression caught up to him against Air Force.

Lange was shown the Dukes' second yellow card in four minutes, just five minutes into the second half, when he collided with an Air Force defender.

After the match, head coach Jake Ouimet said he remained pleased with the young forward's play.

"Austin has a fantastic work rate and is a good two-way offensive player," Ouimet said. "Sometimes that's just going to happen out there, but he's played really well for us."

Lange is paired with forwards Simon Gomez and Josh Patterson and is still trying to get used to this role.

"I try to be a burst of energy out there," Lange said. "I'm trying to just compliment Simon and Josh. Simon's a great player, and so is Josh, so I'm just trying to fit in here."

Gomez, who collected his third goal of the season in the 11th minute, was taken out just 18 minutes into the match due to an injury sustained last Sunday against Stony Brook. After icing the bone bruise at the half, he returned to play the final 18 minutes, as was planned by the coaching staff before the game.

"Simon's still hurting. He's fighting through a lot of pain," Ouimet said. "We're trying to get him as many minutes as we can to work him back in there."

Many of the Dukes seemed down after dropping two close matches in the Pitt/Nike Invitational. But Ouimet believed there were some things they did well that can take into their upcoming road trip.

"We played the ball really well and at times we are threatening to be a really dangerous team," Ouimet said. "But we have to stay sharp on defense. That's what got us."

Duquesne will look for a better result when they travel back to Pitt to take on the Panthers at 5 p.m. Friday.