PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne lacrosse team overcame a slow start to earn an 18-13 win over George Mason Thursday afternoon at Rooney Field.
 
The Dukes (5-9, 2-5 A-10) were led by a season-high six goals from freshman Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow). The reigning and three-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week also added and assist for seven points to go with four draw controls.
 
Seniors Alana Piano (Brockport, N.Y./Aquinas) and Tina St. Clair (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) each posted five goals in their final game at Rooney Field. Piano also chipped in an assist, four caused turnovers, four ground balls and three draw controls. St Clair added a trio of draw controls to her final line.
 
George Mason opened up a 6-3 lead with 1:33 to play in the first quarter, before a Mackenzie Leszczynski (Flourtown, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) goal in the final 20 seconds of the period spurred the Duquesne rally and made the score 6-4 at the end of the first period.
 
The Dukes scored four-unanswered goals in the second quarter, including a pair by St. Clair, that made the score 8-6 in favor of Duquesne heading into halftime.
 
Piano netted the first goal of the third quarter to push the lead to 9-6 less than a minute into the second half. George Mason ended the run, but the Dukes scored four of the game's next five goals to push their lead to 13-8 with 2:35 to play in the third quarter.
 
The Patriots cut into the deficit with two-straight goals to close out the third quarter and made the score 13-10. 
 
The Dukes put the game away with four-straight goals to start the fourth quarter to make it a 17-10 game. Piano and Rodriguez-Shaw each tallied two goals during the spurt, with Rodriguez-Shaw tacking on her sixth of the contest with 3:06 to play in the game to make the score 18-11.
 
Goalie Rachel O'Toole (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton) came on in relief and made 10 saves on 17 shots on-goal to earn the win in net.
 
The Dukes out-shot the Patriots 38 to 27. Turnovers were even at 17, with Duquesne holding a slight edge in draw controls (18-17). 
 
The Dukes are back in action on Saturday, April 16 when they travel to the nation's capital to take on George Washington at 1 p.m. in an A-10 matchup. The contest will only have a live stats feed (no ESPN+ broadcast).