Dukes Downed by Saint Joseph’s in A-10 Home Opener

PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne University women’s lacrosse team fell in its Atlantic 10 home opener Saturday afternoon, 16-10, to Saint Joseph’s at Rooney Field
 
The Dukes (1-7, 0-2) got ahead by as many as three goals near the midway point in the second quarter, but Saint Joseph’s (3-5, 2-0), the defending A-10 champions, rattled off a 9-0 run spanning the second and third quarters to turn the tide on way to a six-goal victory.
 
The Hawks got out in front quickly with three straight goals over the opening three minutes to take the early lead, but Duquesne was right there to answer. Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw and Chloe Holmes both went back-to-back netting four straight goals for the Dukes to close out the first quarter with a 4-3 lead.
 
Rodriguez-Shaw was back at it to start the second quarter netting her third goal of the game less than a minute into the frame. The Dukes defense kept Saint Joseph’s scoreless for nearly 15 minutes building the 5-3 edge, then extended their lead to 7-4 with six minutes left in the first half on goals from Emelie Curtis and Chelsea Evans, who fired in a free position score four minutes after assisting on Curtis’.
 
The Hawks flipped the script to take back the lead with six straight goals to end the half, behind a 17-4 second-quarter shot advantage, putting them ahead 10-7 at the break. Saint Joseph’s extended the late first half run to the start of the second with three more in the back of the net making it nine unanswered goals.
 
Mackenzie Leszczynski drove right to the net and scored a pair of goals in a one-minute span to get Duquesne back on the board making it 13-9. The four-goal deficit would be as close as the Dukes could get the rest of the way.
 
Saint Joseph’s added three more goals down the stretch and locked in on defense allowing just one fourth-quarter score on four Duquesne shots. Evans sent home the fourth-quarter goal with nine minutes to play, her second of the game, on a quick turn and fire after a long-range pass from Rodriguez-Shaw.
 
Rodriguez-Shaw finished with a team-high four points on three early goals and one assist, while Holmes, Leszczynski and Evans added two goals apiece. Leszczynski and Evans each dished out an assist, as well. The Dukes assisted on three of their 10 goals.
 
Duquesne will be back home on Wednesday at 4 p.m. to take on St. Bonaventure.
 
Follow Duquesne Lacrosse all season online at GoDuquesne.com, as well as on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@DuqLax).