PITTSBURGH – A pair of first half goals helped propel Duquesne (1-0) to a 3-1 season-opening win over Saint Francis U (0-2) in a non-conference match at Rooney Field.
 
Emma Bundy (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) got the Dukes on the board in the 21^st-minute with a strike from about 30 yards out to make the score 1-0.
 
Duquesne pushed its lead to two goals in the 39^th-minute when Karley Steinher (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) headed in a corner kick off of the foot of Hannah Nguyen (Irwin, Pa./Penn Trafford). The assist was the second of the game for Nguyen.
 
The Red Flash were the aggressors early in the second half. Saint Francis sliced the Dukes lead in half on a ball that ricocheted off of the crossbar and barely across the goalline to make the score 2-1 less than a minute into the second half.
 
Duquesne withstood the sudden surge from the visiting team and a penalty-kick goal by Ashley Rodriguez (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge) in the 63^rd-minute sealed away the win in front of the home crowd on the hot afternoon. 
 
Goalkeeper Megan Virgin (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) made a trio of saves and stifled multiple scoring opportunities with her aggressive play to earn the win in net.
 
The Dukes out-shot Saint Francis 19-to-6 and held an 8-to-3 edge in corner kicks.
 
Duquesne will return to Rooney Field on Friday, August 27 to take on Valparaiso in a non-conference matchup at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Duquesne dominated play early in the match. The Dukes attempted four corner kicks in the first 18 minutes and Cami Taylor (Stafford, Va./Mountain View) had a pair of scoring chances.
• Saint Francis was held without a shot attempt until the 33^rd-minute. The first shot on goal came in the 37^th-minute and was stopped by a diving Virgin towards the far left of the goal.
• The Red Flash looked poised to knot the game up following their goal that made the score 2-1 in the 46^th minute, but a straight-red card in the 52^nd-minute forced SFU to play a player down for the final 38 minutes of the contest.
• Jaimi Araujo (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) had multiple scoring chances minutes after the booking, but could not find the back of the net. Araujo finished with a game-high seven shot attempts, including five on-goal.
• A handball in the box allowed Rodriguez to attempt and convert the penalty to essentially put the game away in the 63^rd-minute.

QUOTABLES

• "Getting a win is the most important thing right now. We had stretches where we played really well and did what we wanted to do and then we had some lapses where we gave the ball away needlessly. I thought we lowered our tempo a bit and when we did that they started to come into the game. We were a goal up and we kind of took our foot off the gas a little bit. Overall, I am satisfied with getting a win today and with dominating the game for the most part. We'll get ready for Friday's game." - Al Alvine, Duquesne Head Women's Soccer Coach on the Dukes play.
• "We did create a lot of quality chances and I thought we were dangerous up top. Jami (Araujo) in particular had how many opportunities to score? They'll start to go in for her and when they do, she'll get a bunch of them." - Al Alvine, Duquesne Head Women's Soccer Coach on creating scoring opportunities.