PITTSBURGH - The Duquesne University women's soccer team is in the Atlantic 10 semifinals for the first time since 2017, traveling to top-seeded and nationally-ranked Saint Louis for a Wednesday night matchup.

THE BASICS 
November 1, 2023 | 8:00 PM (ET) / 7:00 PM (CT) | Hermann Stadium (St. Louis, MO) 

(#5) Duquesne Dukes (8-7-4, 4-2-4 A-10) 

• Streak: W2 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

(#1) Saint Louis Billikens (15-2-2, 9-0-1 A-10) 

• Streak: W8 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

GAMEDAY LINKS
Watch Live on ESPN+  |  Follow Live Stats  |  Gameday Central | A-10 Championship Central 

BY THE NUMBERS 

THE DUKES  

• Duquesne is competing in the A-10 semifinals for the first time since 2017 and third time in program history. 

• The Dukes are 4-8-1 all-time in A-10 tournament play ... DU has won one A-10 title (2015) and is 1-1 in semifinal games (W, 2-1 over La Salle in 2015 ... L, 2-1 in OT versus La Salle in 2017).

• 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 Maya Matesa – 7, Brianna Moore – 5, and Jaimi Araujo – 2. 

• Matesa leads the team in goals with seven, which is good for a tie for third in the A-10. 

• Nine Dukes have four points or more (Matesa – 15, Moore – 11, Anna Bundy – 6, Karley Steinher – 5, while Morgan Kulniszewski, Margey Brown, Lindsay Krafchick, Mackenzie Muir and Araujo all have four) … 16 players have recorded at least one point this season. 

• Kulniszewski and Muir each have four assists to leads the Dukes this season … Muir tallied her fourth of the year in the quarterfinal win and has now had an assist in two straight games. 

• Matesa leads the team with 37 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 87 total saves.  

• Duquesne has scored multiple goals six times this season and won all six matches (5-0 vs. American / 2-0 vs. St. Francis / 2-0 at St. Bonaventure / 3-0 vs. George Washington / 3-0 vs. Richmond / 2-1 at UMass) ... The Dukes have now scored multiple goals in consecutive games for the first time this season.

• The Dukes were unbeaten through their first seven Atlantic 10 matches (3-0-4) … The first time Duquesne started off A-10 play undefeated through its first seven conference matchups in school history.   

• DU is in the A-10 playoffs for the second straight season, the first back-to-back births since 2016-17. 

LAST TIME OUT 

• The fifth-seeded Dukes squared off against No. 4 Massachusetts to kick off playoffs winning 2-1 on the road Friday afternoon.

• Both goals came from Maya Matesa, scoring first in the 13th minute launching a cross that went into the top right corner to give the Dukes a 1-0 lead. 

• The Minutewomen tied the game up in the 29th minute when Lauren Robles fired a game-tying goal. 

• Duquesne answered quickly with the second goal from Matesa, only 30 seconds after the game-tying goal, rifling a long-range shot from 30+ yards to give DU a 2-1 lead. Mackenzie Muir got the assist credit for the eventual game-winner. 

• Despite the shots on goal favoring UMass 18-7 the shots on goal were 8-6.

• Maddy Neundorfer made seven saves in net for the Dukes. 

THE BILLIKENS 

• Saint Louis finished as the top seed in the A-10 and is currently ranked 22nd in the nation ... SLU is riding an eight-game winning streak including an opening-round win over VCU 2-0.  

• The Billikens lead the Atlantic 10 in nearly every stat category including corner kicks (6.8/g), goal differential (+49), goals against average (.526), points per game (9.26), scoring offense (3.11), shots per game (19.68), shots on goal per game (9.58), shutout percentage (.632), total assists (58), total goals (58), and total points (176) … All of the conference-leading stats also rank in the top-13 of the NCAA with the +49-goal differential being the best in all of Division I. 

• Emily Gaebe leads the entire A-10 with goals scoring 14 this season, putting her in first for points as well with 34, which is a single-season record for Saint Louis.  

• Hannah Larson and Izzy Luebbert both lead the team with seven assists, tied together for third in the A-10.  

• In the quarterfinal win, Lyndsey Heckel scored on a corner kick just 50 seconds into the game to put Saint Louis up 1-0 … Gaebe made the game 2-0 with a shot from Julia Simon that was saved before Gaebe gathered the rebound and scored … Emily Puricelli made five saves to help advance SLU to the semifinals, as she collected her eighth shutout of the season tying her for second in the A-10.  

THE SERIES 

• Duquesne is 4-11 all-time against Saint Louis … The sides have met once before in the A-10 tournament, an opening-round matchup in 2019 at SLU, which the Billikens won 5-0. 

• The Dukes' last win against Saint Louis came two years back at home, winning 3-1 on September 23, 2021, which was also their largest margin of victory against the Billikens.   

• Earlier this season, SLU won on its home turf 4-0 … The Billikens scored three goals in the first 10 minutes to take control of the match and cruised the rest of the way adding an 89th minute score. 

• Duquesne is 1-7 all-time in St. Louis … DU's last win on the road against SLU was on October 8th, 2010, beating the Billikens 2-1. 

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 

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

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

• The Dukes have 22 assists as a team this season placing them in a three-way tie for eighth place all-time with the 2017 and 1995 teams. 

ASSISTS ALL AROUND 

• 11 different Dukes have recorded an assist this season … Morgan Kulniszewski and Mackenzie Muir each have four to lead the team. 

• 19 of the Dukes 25 goals have been assisted this season ... Three DU scores have resulted from double assists, as the team has 22 total.  

• The 22 assists are the fifth-most in the A-10 by a team this season.  

SHUTOUTS 

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

• The Dukes recorded their seventh shutout win of the season with its 3-0 win over Richmond in the season finale … DU had a 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. 

• Nine shutouts are tied for the third most by any A-10 defense this season trailing only Dayton (11) and Saint Louis (12). 

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). 

• Duquesne 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 (18 starts), a graduate transfer that spent time at Kent State and the past three seasons at Boise State, alongside freshman Jayden Sharpless (19 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 Duke to start every game this season. 

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 83-97-29 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.