PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne lacrosse team kept things tight throughout, but ultimately fell 11-7 to Saint Joseph's in both teams' Atlantic 10 opener Friday evening at Rooney Field.
 
The Dukes (3-5, 0-1 A-10) were led by freshman Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow), who matched a season-high with four goals. Classmate Sam King (Newburyport, Mass./Newburyport) matched her with four points on two goals and two assists.

Senior Alana Piano (Brockport, N.Y./Aquinas) posted a balanced line with one goal, one assist, seven groundballs, five caused turnovers and three draw controls.
 
The Hawks (5-4, 1-0 A-10) established a 3-1 lead after the first quarter and eventually built it to as 7-2 with 2:43 to play in the first half. Rodriguez-Shaw scored right before the halftime whistle to cut the deficit to 7-3 entering the break.
 
After Saint Joseph's scored the first goal of the third quarter to make the score 8-3 with just under eight minutes on the clock, the Dukes went on a run. Rodriguez-Shaw scored twice in 14 seconds and a King goal in the final minute of the quarter made the score 9-6 at the end of the third quarter.
 
Rodriguez-Shaw scored once again in the opening minute of the fourth quarter to draw the Dukes all the way back within two, 9-7. Unfortunately, the Hawks kept Duquesne off of the scoreboard over the final 14 minutes of the game and tacked on a pair of insurance goals to bring the score to its final tally.
 
Saint Joseph's out-shot the Dukes 28 to 22 and forced 27 Duquesne turnovers. The Hawks turned the ball over 23 times.
 
Goalie Mady Piersielak (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) finished with nine saves in net.
 
Saint Joseph's Lauren Figura scored seven goals to lead the Hawks.
 
The Dukes are back at Rooney Field on Sunday, March 27 to host UMass in another A-10 match at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.