A year ago, in the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship women’s soccer game last year, Abby Losco scored the first goal against Fordham. Duquesne would end up winning the game, 2-0.
That goal was the highlight of Losco’s freshman year.
“Scoring a goal in that kind of atmosphere was intense, and the play happened very quickly,” Losco said. “The reaction from the entire team was pure excitement, but we knew that we had to keep playing hard and finish the game.”
In her freshman season, Losco, a student in the physician’s assistant five-year program, started 20 of 23 matches for the Duquesne women’s soccer team last season. That was the second most starts for a freshman, right behind teammate Casey Aunkust, who started 22 games. Losco finished the season with three goals and four assists.
She said she wasn’t sure what to expect going into her freshman year, but she knew she had to work hard to make head coach Al Alvine’s starting XI.
And Losco’s been keeping that hard work and training up during the offseason and the preseason. She’s going into her sophomore season with the Dukes with a strong 2015-16 campaign under her belt, and she’s ready to help prove that Duquesne can be the No. 1 team — the team was recently ranked No. 6 overall in the A-10 preseason rankings.
The No. 1 team was the University of Dayton, which is a matchup that Losco is looking forward to.
“Dayton was ranked first in the Atlantic 10 preseason rankings for the eighth year in a row,” Losco said. “They are always a top team in the conference. I am looking forward to playing [against Dayton] this season because of the intensity of the last game we played in the A-10 playoffs.”
Last season, in November, Duquesne tied Dayton, 1-1. This season, the two teams will meet up on October 27, but there’s plenty of soccer to play before then. Losco is confident the team will do well this season, as she says the preseason work will “show during our season.”
Losco said the team goals this year are similar to the ones from last year: Make the A-10 Tournament and win the championship. However, Losco noted the team wants to make it farther into the NCAA Tournament than they did last year. Duquesne lost 4-0 to West Virginia University.
The Duquesne Dukes, with Maddie Layman, Jorden Thornton and Linnea Faccenda as their captains, will kick off their season against Central Michigan at Rooney Field on August 19. Kickoff will happen at 7 p.m.
Image credit: Claire Murray/The Duquesne Duke
