PITTSBURGH - The Duquesne University women's soccer team is making its second straight playoff appearance for the first time since 2016 and '17. The No. 5 seeded Dukes travel to No. 4 UMass for the quarterfinal round on Friday.

THE BASICS 
October 27, 2023 | 2:00 PM | Rudd Field (Amherst, Mass)

Duquesne Dukes (7-7-4, 4-2-4 A-10) 

• Streak: W1 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

Massachusetts Minutewomen (9-4-4, 6-2-2 A-10) 

• Streak: W2 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

GAMEDAY COVERAGE

Watch Live on ESPN+  |  Follow Live Stats  |  Gameday Central 

A-10 Tournament Bracket  |  A-10 Tournament Central

BY THE NUMBERS 


THE DUKES  

• Duquesne is 3-8-1 all-time in Atlantic 10 playoff matches ... The Dukes have not won a match in the tournament since 2017 ... This is the 10th appearance in program history and second straight season as the No. 5 seed, falling to Davidson 2-0 last year.

• Twelve Dukes have scored a goal this season and freshman Anna Bundy (3) became the fourth to have multiple scores after the game-winner against Rhode Island on the road, along with Brianna Moore – 5, Maya Matesa - 5, and Jaimi Araujo – 2. 

• Moore and Matesa lead the team in goals with five and points at 11.  

• Seven Dukes have four points or more (Matesa – 11, Moore – 11, Karley Steinher -- 5, Morgan Kulniszewski – 4, Anna Bundy – 4, Margey Brown – 4, Lindsey Krafchick—4 and Araujo – 4) … 15 players have recorded at least one point this season. 

• Kulniszewski leads the Dukes this season with four assists this season.  

• Matesa leads the team with 35 shots … Eight Dukes have taken double-digit shots, and of those Libby Majka (54.5%) and Moore (52.4%) have put over half their shots on target. 

• Goalkeeper Maddy Neundorfer is tied for second in the A-10 with eight shutouts and 80 total saves.

• Duquesne has scored multiple goals five times this season and won all five matches (5-0 vs. American / 2-0 vs. St. Francis / 2-0 vs. St. Bonaventure / 3-0 vs. George Washington / 3-0 vs. Richmond). 

• The Dukes were unbeaten through their first seven Atlantic 10 matches before their last matchup against La Salle, at 3-0-4 … The first time Duquesne has started off A-10 play undefeated through their first seven conference matchups in school history.   

LAST TIME OUT 

• The Dukes squared off against Richmond at home to wrap up the regular season and won 3-0 to finish fifth in the A-10 standings. 

• All three goals came from corners with goals coming from Jayden Sharpless, Anna Campanella and Anna Bundy. 

• Campanella and Sharpless scored their first goals of the season in their last matchup. 

• The Dukes outshot the Spiders 17-6 and got nine corners to the Spiders' one.  

• Maddy Neundorfer made two saves to get her eighth shutout of the season. 

THE MINUTEWOMEN 

• Massachusetts finished fourth in the A-10 and capped off the regular season beating Fordham on the road by a score of 2-0. 

• Bella Recinos scored her seventh goal of the season to put them ahead 1-0 with assists from Nia Hislop and Ella Curry in the 3rd minute of the game 

• The second goal came in the 84th minute with Rose Gevanthor scoring her first goal of the season to secure the victory for the Minutewomen 

• Bella Mendoza is tied for second in the A-10 with eight shutouts this season by making five saves for UMass against Fordham. 

• Recinos leads the team with seven goals. 

• Two Minutewomen have double digit points with Recinos scoring 19 points and Ashley Lamond with 12 points.  

THE SERIES 

• Duquesne is 5-17-2 against the Minutewomen all time ... This will be the first time the sides meet in the A-10 Tournament.  

• Earlier this season, Duquesne drew at 1 against UMass at Rooney Field with Brianna Moore scoring the goal to tie up the game from 20 yards out to get her fifth goal of the season. 

• The game got chippy with 20 combined fouls between the two teams last time out. 

• At UMass, the Dukes are 2-9-1. 

• The largest margin of victory came at home on Halloween in 2004 with the score being 4-2. 

• The last win against the Minutewomen was at home on October 22, 2015 with a score of 1-0. 

• Duquesne's record in their last ten matchups is 1-7-2. 

ALL-TIME LEADERBOARD 

• Graduate student forward Jaimi Araujo moved into a tie for 9th in career goals at DU with Sarah Nicholson (1995-98), with two goals early in the season to bring her career total to 15 in the Red and Blue.  

• Araujo would move into a four-way tie for 6th place on the all-time leaderboard on her next goal (16) … Lauren Bracco ('00-03), Faye Rasmussen ('04-07), and Morgan Herbert ('09-12) are all currently tied for 6th … The all-time leader at DU is Katie O'Conner (2015-18) with 25. 

SINGLE SEASON LEADERBOARD 

• Junior goalkeeper Maddy Neundorfer has eight shutouts this season, tied for first on the leader board for a single season with Kyra Murphy back in 2017.

• Sophomore forward Morgan Kulniszewski has four assists this season and her next assist will put her in a tie for seventh most in a single season.   

ASSISTS ALL AROUND 

• 11 different Dukes have recorded an assist this season … Morgan Kulniszewski leads the team with four assists in 2023. 

• 18 of the Dukes 23 goals have been assisted this season ... Three DU scores have resulted from double assists, as the team has 21 total, which is tied for the eighth most in a single season in program history with the 2017 and 1995 teams.

• The 21 assists are the sixth-most in the A-10 by a team this season.  

SHUTOUTS 

• The Dukes recorded their seventh shutout win of the season with its 3-0 win over Richmond, 3-0 win over George Washington, 2-0 win at St. Bonaventure, 1-0 win over Rhode Island, 1-0 defeat of FDU, 2-0 win over Saint Francis, and 5-0 win over American. 

• Duquesne has kept its opponents off the scoreboard nine times this season, tied with the 2016 team for the most shutouts in a single season in program history.

• Nine shutouts are tied for the third most by any A-10 defense this season trailing only Dayton and Saint Louis.

HOME-OPENING SCORING SPREE 

• The five goals in DU's home-opening win were the most in a game since Sept. 15, 2019 (a 6-0 win vs. Youngstown State) and the most in a home opener since 2005 (a 7-0 win over Vermont). 

• The home opener was the third time in the Coach Alvine era (12th season) that Duquesne has scored five or more goals in a game (6-0 win at Saint Francis on Sept. 23, 2016, and the YSU victory in 2019). 

BACK ON THE BLUFF 

• Duquesne returns all but one of their nine goal scorers from last year's squad that reached the first Atlantic 10 postseason tournament since 2019. The 2022 Dukes finished with a 6-7-3 overall and 4-3-3 conference record, bowing out of the A-10 Tournament in the first round (0-2 loss at Davidson). 

• DU had 20 different players start at least one match last season and returns 15 of them. 

• Mackenzie Muir and Margey Brown were both named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team a year ago and are back for their sophomore campaigns. 

• Maddy Neundorfer returns for her junior season in net for DU. Neundorfer ranked second in the Atlantic 10 in saves (96) and saves per game (6.0) in 2022, starting all 16 games.  

NEWCOMERS RIGHT IN THE MIX 

• Coach Alvine brought in a talented recruiting class of 11 new players to bolster the long list of returners. 

• Anna Campanella (17 starts), a graduate transfer that spent time at Kent State and the past three seasons at Boise State, alongside freshman Jayden Sharpless (18 starts), a transfer from Georgia State, are a pair of newcomers that have started every game they've played in so far this season ... Sharpless is the only Dukes to start all 18 games. 

SISTER, SISTER 

• The Dukes roster includes three sets of sisters this season. Kayla and her twin sister Skylar Leseck are freshman from Moon Township, Pa., Anna (freshman) and Emma Bundy (junior) from Wexford, Pa., and Anna (graduate student) and Ally Campanella (junior) from Hudson, Ohio. 

• Twins Kayla and Skylar Leseck are one of 16 twins playing Division I soccer this season … Kayla netted her first career goal late in the second half of the home-opening win over American. 

THAT'S OUR COACH 

• Duquesne is led by 12th year head coach Al Alvine. 

• Alvine is the winningest coach in program history with an 82-97-29 overall record on the Bluff and a 43-53-17 mark in Atlantic 10 play. 

• Alvine doubled the Dukes win total from 2011 in his first season. He has led DU to five A-10 Tournament appearances. In 2015, he coached the Dukes to their first-ever Atlantic 10 Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance 

PRESEASON POLL 

• Duquesne was picked to finish seventh in the 15-team Atlantic 10 Conference, its highest preseason rank since 2018. 

• Defending regular season and tournament champion, St. Louis is expected to repeat grabbing 14 of the 15 first-place votes.  

FOLLOW THE DUKES 
For the latest news and updates for Duquesne women's soccer, follow @DuqWSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.