PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne University women's lacrosse team will be on the road at La Salle this Saturday, as both teams vie for their first conference win of the season.
 
THE BASICS
April 15, 2023 | 1:00 pm | McCarthy Stadium (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Duquesne Dukes (1-12, 0-6 A-10) at La Salle Explorers (0-12, 0-6 A-10)
Live Stats | Watch Live on ESPN3
 
BY THE NUMBERS

La Salle is top five in the conference in fouls per game (11.3), ground balls per game (18.1), and free position percentage (45.0%). The Explorers also have the most yellow cards in the league, with 38 this season.
 
Duquesne ranks third in the A-10 in three stat categories, caused turnovers per game (8.9), free position percentage (47.3%), and ground balls per game (18.3).
 
THE DUKES
Roster | Schedule | Stats

Duquesne fell in its ninth straight match last Saturday against the A-10 leader UMass, 17-5. The Dukes were held off the scoreboard in the first half, as the Minutewomen built a 13-0 lead. DU battled in the second half and outscored UMass 5-4 over the final 30 minutes. Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw and Mackenzie Leszczynski netted two goals each to lead the Duquesne offense, while Jillian Caroselli tallied the fifth score in the final seconds of the game.
 
Leszczynski and Rodriguez-Shaw scored six goals each versus St. Bonaventure earlier this season, becoming the second pair of Dukes teammates in program history to net six goals apiece in a game, joining Kaelin Shaw and Jill Vacanti, who also did it against St. Bonaventure in April of 2016.
 
Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw, a sophomore from Longmeadow, Mass., has scored multiple goals in 12 of the 13 matches this season and is atop the A-10 leaderboard in goals (43) and goals per game (3.31), ranking top-20 in the NCAA in both. The six goals versus SBU tied a career-high for the second time this season. She also leads the conference in shots on goal per game (5.15) and is second in shots per game (7.69). Rodriguez-Shaw saw a six-game assist streak get snapped last weekend in Amherst, she still leads the team with 13, the lone Duke in double digits. She ranks fourth in the conference with 54 points. Rodriguez-Shaw converts at a 39.1% rate from free position and nets 0.69 FP goals per game.
 
Mackenzie Leszczynski has 45 points on the season with 36 goals and nine assists, averaging 2.77 goals per game (4^th in the A-10). The sophomore from Flourtown, Pa. is the only Duke this season to have scored in all 13 matches, and she has had multiple goals in seven straight outings. The six goals in the home matchup against St. Bonaventure in late March were a career-high and came on just eight shots. Leszczynski is netting 51.4% of her shots and fires 5.38 shots per game with 4.08 going on goal, both averages are good for fifth in the A-10. Leszczynski ranks fourth in the conference with a 55.6% free position percentage and is tied for fourth in free position goals per game (0.77) with teammate Chelsea Evans. Leszczynski also averages 4.85 draw controls per game, the fifth-most in the A-10.
 
Freshman Chelsea Evans has had multiple goals eight times and scored in 11 of the 13 games this season, while dishing out four assists. A season-high four goals came in the first win of the season at Youngstown State. Evans is second in the A-10 in free-position percentage (62.5%) going 10-for-16, for an average of 0.77 FP goals per game, tied for the fourth-most in the league with Leszczynski. She also has 22 ground balls on the season, one of four Dukes to reach that mark.
 
Fellow freshman Chloe Holmes scored in each of the first eight contests totaling 13 goals, while dishing out two assists before being held off the board the past five games. She leads the team with a .923 shot on goal percentage, putting 24 of her 26 attempts on target, and has recorded a shot on goal in 11 of the 13 games this season.
 
Senior Jillian Caroselli used a late score inside the arc against UMass to extend her scoring streak to four straight games. The stretch began with a three-goal, one-assist outing at George Mason on March 25, her second three goal outing of the season along with the season-opener against Pitt. The West Islip, N.Y. native has 12 goals on the season, one of five Dukes in double digits.
 
Mady Piersielak, a redshirt junior from Fairport, N.Y., has started 11 matches and appeared in all 13 in net for Duquesne. She owns a .396 save percentage with 97 saves in 310 shots faced this season. Piersielak has made double-digit saves five times with a season-high 14 versus Saint Joseph's on March 18. Saturday will be her 40^th career game in the Red and Blue, Piersielak went over the 200 career saves plateau earlier this season and currently has 221 as a Duke.
 
Freshman Megan LaBorne made her first start in goal for the Dukes against UC Davis on March 29 and has seen action in each of the last four games. LaBorne owns a .326 save percentage with 28 saves in 125 shots faced. A season-high 11 saves came in 52 minutes of action at George Mason on March 25.
 
10 Dukes have double-digit ground balls, with sophomore Hanna Pawela leading the way at 37. She has scooped multiple in 10 of the 13 games this season and is third in the A-10 averaging 2.85 ground balls per game. Pawela also ranks eighth in the NCAA and is second on the conference leaderboard in caused turnovers, forcing 2.46 per game. Piersielak is fifth in the A-10 in ground balls at 2.46 per game and 32 total on the season. Freshman Casey McBride (1.58) and junior Emily O'Donnell (1.42) each rank in the A-10's top-10 in caused 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 EXPLORERS
Roster | Schedule | Stats

La Salle has had a rough 2023 season, still in search of its first win. The Explorers have scored double digits just one time, a 13-11 loss at George Mason, and have been outscored by 10 or more in six of their 12 losses. They are coming off an 18-6 defeat at Richmond last Saturday, Alana Lathan had half of the La Salle goals and assisted on another.
 
Lathan leads the Explorers with 15 goals in eight starts and has six assists. Five players have double digit goals, including Maddie Henderson with 13, then Katie Johnson, Ellen Stickney, and Claudia Steinmetz all have 10 apiece. Johnson paces the group with a .588 shot percentage and .882 shot on goal percentage in 17 shots this season, while Lathan has taken a team-leading 43 shots and put 32 on goal.
 
Julia Dellaratta handles the goalkeeping for La Salle and has started 11 games with action in all 12. She ranks fourth in the A-10 saving 8.58 shots per game with 103 total on the year against 274 shots (37.6 save percentage). Dellaratta averages the fourth-most ground balls per game in the conference (2.58), while twin sister Liza Dellaratta picks up 2.17 per game (7^th in the A-10).
 
THE SERIES
The Dukes won last year's matchup 18-9 on their home turf and hold a 16-8 all-time series lead. Both teams have scored nine or more goals in each of the last seven meetings, while Duquesne has netted 11 or more in all but three of the 27 matchups for an average of 13.92 goals per game. The Dukes are 6-5 on the road against La Salle, while the Explorers have won each of the last two meetings in Philadelphia (20-14 in 2021 and 15-14 in 2018). Over the last 10 matchups, Duquesne leads 6-4 with no team winning more than two in a row.
 
UP NEXT
Duquesne will host George Washington for its final home game and Senior Day next Saturday (April 22). Start time is scheduled for noon at Rooney Field.
 
Follow Duquesne Lacrosse all season online at GoDuquesne.com, as well as on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@DuqLax).