PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne women's soccer team (2-1-1) recovered from an early deficit to earn a 2-1 win over Youngstown State (0-5) in a non-conference match at Rooney Field Sunday afternoon.
 
Youngstown State scored the game's opening goal in the sixth-minute. Duquesne goalkeeper Bella DeFabbo (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) made an aggressive attempt to play a ball in front of the box, but the Penguins managed to slip away with possession and Abriana Rondin scored into an undefended net.
 
The Dukes responded with the equalizer in the 29^th-minute off of a corner kick. Hannah Nguyen (Irwin, Pa./Penn Trafford) sent a ball into the box that was headed in by Karley Steinher (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) to even the match at 1-1 heading into halftime.
 
Duquesne took the lead off of another corner kick in the 53^rd-minute. After Youngstown State attempted to clear the corner attempt, Bailey Farabaugh (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) collected the ball and put a shot on net that was not secured by YSU goalkeeper Zeeyana Jivraj. The rebound found the foot of Emma Bundy (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny), who drove it home to give the Dukes a 2-1 lead.
 
DU appeared to add a third goal to its side when Steiner sent a free-kick into the box that Cami Taylor (Stafford, Va./Mountain View) headed past the keeper, but an offside call nullified the goal and kept the score at 2-1.
 
Youngstown State had a trio of shot attempts in the final 13 minutes, including a free-kick from about 25 yards out, but none found the back of the net, allowing the Dukes to pull out the victory.
 
The contest was evenly played as possession was split 50-50. YSU held a slight 14-to-13 edge in shot attempts, with DU holding a 6-to-5 advantage in shots on-target. The Dukes were able to take five corner kicks and converted off of two of those attempts. YSU only attempted one corner kick.
 
DeFabbo notched the win in net while making her season-debut between the pipes. She made four saves and denied a handful of other scoring opportunities to earn her first victory since she kept a clean sheet in the spring finale at St. Bonaventure on April 11. DeFabbo made a leaping play on a cross attempt four minutes into the match to deny the Penguins, and made a similar play in the 32^nd-minute to keep the game tied at 1-1.
 
Lexy Kendro finished with a match-best five shot attempts, including a shot off of the post in the 40^th minute and another one that rang off of the cross-bar in the 70^th-minute.
 
The Dukes will hit the road on Thursday, September 9 when they travel to Niagara Falls, New York for a non-conference meeting with Niagara at 7 p.m. 
 
QUOTEABLES
"I've always said that it's the mark of a good team when you can win without playing your best. It was a poor first half for us by our standards, but I thought the second half was markedly better. We created a lot more chances and played with much more sense of urgency, which was good to see. We still have not brought a complete 90-minute game together. We've got two more non-conference games to figure it out and hopefully we will." – Al Alvine, Duquesne head coach