PITTSBURGH – Mackenzie Leszczynski and Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw scored six goals each, but the Duquesne University women's lacrosse team came up one goal short against St. Bonaventure, 16-15, Wednesday at Rooney Field.
 
Leszczynski and Rodriguez-Shaw became the second pair of Dukes teammates to each net six goals in a game joining Kaelin Shaw and Jill Vacanti, who also did it against St. Bonaventure in April of 2016.
 
Rodriguez-Shaw wasted no time finding the back of the net 30 seconds in, however three minutes later St. Bonaventure rattled off three straight goals to take the early lead and never trailed after that. Duquesne tied the game at 11 with just under five minutes left in the third quarter, but could not overtake the Bonnies.
 
Chelsea Evans put a speed bump in the first-quarter SBU run with a goal at the six-minute mark to make it 3-2, but St. Bonaventure came right back with three more scores over the ensuing 11 minutes to get ahead by four early in the second quarter.
 
Mia Failla fired in her first-career goal 15 seconds after the Bonnies' sixth goal, then Leszczynski took over for the Dukes netting their next five goals, all unassisted and one from free position including three straight after a pair of St. Bonaventure scores to bring Duquesne within one score, 8-7, with less than two minutes to play in the first half. The Bonnies took the momentum into the locker room netting two goals in the final 30 seconds to take a 10-7 advantage into the break.
 
Leszczynksi was back at it out of the half, capitalizing on a free-position shot just over 30 seconds into the third quarter. Rodriguez-Shaw added another free-position goal two minutes later to shorten the DU deficit to one, but the Bonnies kept fending off the Dukes.
 
After a St. Bonaventure score with 7:43 left on the third-period clock, Duquesne netted back-to-back goals over a span of 21 seconds from Evans and Rodriguez-Shaw to knot the game at 11.
 
The Bonnies responded with four consecutive scores spanning the end of the third quarter and the first eight-plus minutes of the fourth frame to extend their lead to four (15-11). Leszczynski had a quick reaction off a rebound and scored her sixth goal of the game to snap a 13-minute scoreless drought for the Dukes with less than seven minutes remaining.
 
The ultimate game-winner came with four minutes to play for St. Bonaventure, as Duquesne battled until the final horn putting up a late rally spearheaded by Rodriguez-Shaw. She tallied three of her six goals in the final two minutes with scores nine seconds apart, at the 1:49 and 1:40 marks, and a buzzer-beater but the Dukes ran out of time falling one goal short.
 
Leszczynski scored her six goals in just eight shots (75%), seven of which on target, while Rodriguez-Shaw scored on 50% of her attempts going 6-for-12 with 10 shots on goal.
 
Mady Piersielak had double-digit saves for the fifth time in six games, recording 12. Hanna Pawela led all players with four ground balls.
 
Duquesne will travel to George Mason on Saturday for a 12 pm match in Fairfax, Va.
 
Follow Duquesne Lacrosse all season online at GoDuquesne.com, as well as on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@DuqLax).