PITTSBURGH – The Dukes hung with Ohio State for three quarters, but the Buckeyes pulled away late to deal the Duquesne lacrosse team an 18-8 loss Thursday afternoon at Rooney Field.
 
Duquesne (2-4) was led by a five-point performance from freshman Sam King (Newburyport, Mass./Newburyport). King matched a season-high with four goals and added one assist.
 
Classmates Julie Cassidy (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) and Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) each added two goals, with Cassidy tallying an assist to finish with three points in the loss.
   
Duquesne went goal-for-goal with the Buckeyes (4-3) throughout a first half that featured five tie scores. Although the Dukes never held the lead, they also never trailed by more than one goal at any point.

The Buckeyes notched the first two goals of the second half, before King answered for the Dukes to make the score 7-6 with 10:44 to play in the third quarter.

Ohio State netted the next three goals, but a Cassidy goal with just over three minutes to play in the period made the score 10-7 as the game entered the fourth quarter.

The Buckeyes out-scored Duquesne 8-1 in the fourth quarter to pull away and deal the Dukes the loss.
 
Ohio State finished with a shot advantage of 43 to 20, including a 36-17 edge in shots on-goal. The Buckeyes won 23 of the 29 draw controls. Ohio State's Chloe Johnson won 13 herself.
 
Ohio State committed 25 turnovers in the match, with 14 caused turnovers by the Dukes.
 
Goalie Mady Piersielak (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) finished with 17 saves in the loss. The save total was four shy of the Duquesne single-game record for saves.

The Dukes return to Rooney Field on Sunday, March 20 to take on Butler in the final non-conference tuneup before Atlantic 10 play. The match will broadcast on ESPN+.