PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne University women's lacrosse team will hit the road for the first time in two weeks, traveling to George Mason on Saturday for an Atlantic 10 matchup.
 
THE BASICS
March 25, 2023 | 12:00 pm (Delayed to 1 pm start) | George Mason Stadium (Fairfax, Va.)
Duquesne Dukes (1-8, 0-3 A-10) at George Mason Patriots (1-8, 1-2 A-10)
Live Stats | Watch Live on ESPN+
 
BY THE NUMBERS


George Mason commits the third-least number of turnovers per game (14.11) in the conference and is fourth in clearing percentage (.868).
 
Duquesne ranks in the top-five of the A-10 in four stat categories; third in caused turnovers per game (8.7), fourth in free position percentage (.481), then fifth in ground balls per game (18.11) and shot percentage (.435).

THE DUKES
Roster | Stats | Schedule

Duquesne has dropped five in a row entering the road trip to George Mason. St. Bonaventure fended off the Dukes on Wednesday, 16-15, at Rooney Field. Duquesne tied the game at 11 late in the third quarter, but could not over take the Bonnies as they responded with four consecutive scores holding the Dukes scoreless for 13 minutes. Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw scored three goals in the final two minutes, but Duquesne came up one goal short at the final horn.
 
Mackenzie Leszczynski and Rodriguez-Shaw scored six goals each on Wednesday, becoming the second pair of Dukes teammates ever 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, a sophomore from Longmeadow, Mass., has scored multiple goals in each of the last eight matches and is atop the A-10 leaderboard in goals per game (3.56) and 32 overall, ranking top-15 in the NCAA in both. The six goals on Wednesday tied a career-high for the second time this season. She also leads the conference in shots per game (8.33), seventh nationally, and shots on goal per game (5.67), 15th in the NCAA. Rodriguez-Shaw has 37 points on the season, adding five assists, including one in each of the last three games, to her league-leading goals. She converts at a 38.1% rate from free position and nets 0.89 goals per game from the free position, the second-most in the A-10.
 
Leszczynski has 32 points on the season with 25 goals and seven assists, averaging 2.78 goals per game (4th in A-10). The sophomore from Flourtown, Pa. has scored in all nine matches, the six goals on Wednesday were a career-high and came on just eight shots. Leszczynski is netting 52.1% of her shots (10th in A-10) firing 5.33 total and 4.11 on goal per game (both top-6 in A-10). She leads the team with seven assists and has had one in six straight outings. Leszczynski ranks fifth in the conference with a .583 free position percentage and an average of 5.0 draw controls per game.
 
The freshman duo, of Chelsea Evans and Chloe Holmes, has made an immediate impact for the Red and Blue, both netting double-digit goals through their first nine collegiate matches. Evans has had multiple goals in six times including five of the last six, along with four assists. A season-high four goals came in the first win of the season at Youngstown State. Holmes scored in the first eight contests totaling 13 goals, while dishing out two assists in her first season in the Red and Blue. She leads the team with a .917 shot on goal percentage, putting 22 of her 24 attempts on target. Evans leads the conference and is seventh in the NCAA with a .778 free position percentage, going 7-for-9 this season.
 
Mady Piersielak, a redshirt junior from Fairport, N.Y., has started eight matches and appeared in all nine in net for Duquesne. She owns a .407 save percentage with 83 saves, the second-most in the A-10, in 262 shots faced this season. Piersielak has made double-digit saves in five of the last six matches with a season-high 14 last Saturday versus Saint Joseph's.
 
Seven Dukes have double-digit ground balls, with Peirsielak (29) and sophomore Hanna Pawela (25) both in the top-five of the A-10 to lead the way. Pawela is second in the conference and 16th nationally forcing 2.22 turnovers per game.
 
Duquesne's lone win of the season came at Youngstown State (16-13) on Feb. 24. Rodriguez-Shaw and Evans had four goals apiece, while Rodriguez-Shaw added an assist in the victory.
 
THE PATRIOTS
Roster | Stats | Schedule

George Mason got in the win column last Saturday with a 13-11 victory over La Salle after starting the season 0-7. Last time out, the Patriots dropped a 20-7 match to Richmond on the road Wednesday night.
 
The Patriots have been held to single digits in six of their nine games this season and have allowed the most goals in the A-10 (248). George Mason ranks at the bottom of the conference in caused turnovers (5.0/g), free position percentage (.306), and shot percentage (.342).
 
Shannon Tuozzo leads the team with 23 goals averaging 2.56 per game. Chloe Reed, Lauren Distad, and Melanie Hutchinson all have dished out a team-high four assists. Meghan Deehan has started seven games and seen action in all nine in net for the Patriots and has a .374 save percentage.
 
George Mason is 1-4 on its home field.
 
THE SERIES
Duquesne holds a narrow 4-3 edge in the all-time series, which began in 2014. The Dukes snapped a three-game skid against the Patriots last year with an 18-13 victory on the home turf at Rooney Field. Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw scored six goals on eight shots in the meeting last April, where Duquesne battled back from an early 6-3 deficit with a 10-2 run to take control.
 
UP NEXT
Duquesne returns to Rooney Field for two games next week. UC Davis comes to town for the non-conference finale on Wednesday at 4 p.m., then VCU visits for A-10 action Saturday at noon.

Follow Duquesne Lacrosse all season online at GoDuquesne.com, as well as on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@DuqLax).