PITTSBURGH – Three first-half goals propelled the Dukes (4-5-1, 2-2-0 A-10) to a 3-1 victory over Richmond (4-6-1, 2-2 A-10) in Atlantic 10 play Thursday night at Rooney Field.
 
Cami Taylor (Stafford, Va./Mountain View), Karley Steinher (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) and Hannah Nguyen (Irwin, Pa./Penn Trafford) each netted goals for Duquesne in the win.
 
Goalkeeper Megan Virgin (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) made five saves in net to earn her third win of the season.
 
Duquesne opened the scoring in the 12^th-minute. Ashley Rodriguez (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge) dribbled down the left sideline and had a pass defect onto the foot of Jaimi Araujo (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca). Araujo hit a crossing Taylor, who one touched the ball into the back of the net for the goal.

The Dukes broke the game open with two goals in a three-minute span later in the half. In the 35^th-minute, Steinher cleared a ball from the backfield that was tracked down by a streaking Nguyen behind the Richmond defense. The Penn Trafford alum finished on the breakaway to make the score 2-0.
 
Nguyen returned the favor to Steinher less than three minutes later. Nguyen sent a corner kick from right-to-left that connected with the head of Steinher, who found the back of the net to make the score 3-0 heading into halftime.
 
The Dukes defense continued to stifle the Spiders through the first 25 minutes of the second half. Richmond nearly got on the board in the 74^th-minute on a shot that rang of the crossbar. The ball rebounded directly to the foot of a Richmond player sitting at the mouth of the goal, but Virgin made the save to keep the Spiders off of the board.
 
Richmond dashed the Dukes' hope for a clean sheet in the 80^th-minute when Emma Coleman corralled a ball in the midfield and dribbled through the Duquesne defense. Virgin came out of the net to cut off the angle, but Coleman's shot got past the diving keeper to make the score 3-1.
 
Although the Spiders threatened again in the closing seconds of the match, time expired to give Duquesne its second win in Atlantic 10 play this season.
 
DU held a 14-to-10 edge in shot attempts. Duquesne attempted four corner kicks, all in the first half, compared to Richmond who generated two.
 
The Dukes improved to 4-1-1 in games at Rooney Field.
 
DU will travel on Sunday, Oct. 3. to Davidson for an A-10 match that will broadcast live on ESPN+ at 2 p.m.