PITTSBURGH, Pa. (November 9, 2022)
 
In Short
A 59th minute goal from Marc Torrellas lifted fourth-seeded Loyola University Chicago (9-2-6) past second-seeded Duquesne (11-4-4) by a final score of 1-0 in the Atlantic 10 semifinals Wednesday night at Rooney Field. Loyola advances to Sunday's A-10 Championship in just its first season as a league member with a berth to the NCAA Tournament on the line. The Ramblers also extended their unbeaten streak to eight games with three consecutive wins, while dealing Duquesne its first home loss.

Thoughts From Head Coach Steve Bode
"Definitely a resilient performance by our team. Whenever you come to a place where you lose earlier in the year, you learn from it, but there's never any guarantees that you're going to come back and get the result.

"I'm just so proud of the guys. I felt like it was a game that we outplayed them, they had a few chances, but I thought we really played well and the guys really stuck to our game plan and were discipline to it."
 
How It Happened
Loyola pressured early and came out aggressive to control second ball opportunities, which led to a flurry of scoring chances. The Ramblers put three shots up within the opening six minutes of action, including a brilliant strike from distance by Julian Cisneros, which was saved by a leaping goalkeeper in the second minute.
 
Following the remarkable attempt by Cisneros, Loyola piled up four consecutive corner kicks with heavy danger in the box. Bryan Silver put a solid foot on a shot attempt in the third minute and Andrew Schweinert, who was actively involved all night, ripped a shot off in the sixth minute.
 
One of Duquesne's best chances in the opening half came on a free header, but Loyola did well to secure the second and third phases, and were consistent all game to prevent any follow-up chances for the Dukes. Jason Ybarra applied more pressure for the Ramblers with a shot on target in the 22nd minute, and that build was followed up with an open look on net for John Gates, who sent a left-footed touch from close range just over the bar.
 
With the score level at halftime, Loyola put three shots on goal and tallied seven corners without allowing a shot on goal for Duquesne.
 
Oscar Dueso got things shifting in Loyola's direction with a chance on goal, which led to another corner try. A few minutes later, Gates blazed past a defender and made a free run toward the box from the far sideline. He found the foot of Torrellas who fired on frame, and Duquesne's Domenic Nascimben, a top-class keeper in the A-10, was unable to make the stop as the ball got on him quickly and deflected through his hands into the back of the net.
 
Loyola held on the rest of the way with great defending across the pitch by the entire lineup, led by the efforts of Schweinert, Lukas Ender and Andrew Mitchell with goalkeeper Simon Jillson directing the back end.
 
Jillson's lone save of the night came in the 70th minute, with the Dukes seeking the equalizer, as Jillson made a diving stop to his left off a shot attempt from DU's Anthony DiFalco to preserve the Loyola lead.
 
The victory avenged Loyola's earlier loss this season to the Dukes on the same field.
 
Inside The Numbers

• Loyola recorded a 6-1 edge in shots on goal and 21-13 overall shot advantage
• The Ramblers have outshot their opponent in six straight games and 14 out of 17 matches
• Torrellas scored his ninth career goal and third of the season – tying his personal best
• Torrellas finished with a team-high three shots on goal
• Gates provided his fifth assist of the season and seventh of his career
• Loyola racked up 15 corner kicks with seven in the first half and eight in the second, while surrendering seven total to Duquesne
• Seven Ramblers played 90 minutes including Jillson, Torrellas, Mitchell, Ender, Cisneros, Silver, and Billy Hency
• DU goalkeeper Nascimben totaled five saves

 
Up Next
Loyola travels to Saint Louis for the A-10 Championship match on Sunday with kickoff set for noon CT. The top-seeded Billikens overcame a 1-0 deficit and outlasted No. 6 seed Dayton in penalty kicks to make it through.