PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne University women's lacrosse team will host George Washington on Saturday for its final home game of the season and Senior Day.
 
THE BASICS
April 22, 2023 | 12:00 pm | Rooney Field (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
George Washington Colonials (4-11, 3-4 A-10) vs. Duquesne Dukes (2-12, 1-6 A-10)
Live Stats | Watch Live on ESPN3
 
BY THE NUMBERS

George Washington is second in the A-10 in clearing percentage (.902) and ground balls per game (18.1), while ranking fifth in save percentage (.401) and turnovers per game (15.3).
 
Duquesne is second in the conference in free position percentage, converting at a 49.4% rate from the FP. The Dukes are third in caused turnovers per game (8.5), then fourth in ground balls per game (17.8) and shot percentage (.455).

THE DUKES
Roster | Schedule | Stats
 
Duquesne earned its first conference win of the season on Saturday at La Salle behind a season-high 21 goals, snapping a nine-game losing streak. Mackenzie Leszczynski led a balanced attack with five goals, on five shots, with a career-high four assists and nine points. Chelsea Evans fired in four goals with an early career-high three assists and paced the shooting efforts with 11 and seven on goal. Chloe Holmes also charted four scores and Jillian Caroselli posted her third hat trick of the season with three scores. Lydia Toparli netted her first two career goals, Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw broke free from stingy defense in the fourth quarter draining a pair of goals, then Emelie Curtis rounded out the scoring with a one-timer in the second period.
 
After a slow offensive start, both sides broke loose in the second quarter and never looked back. The Dukes took a 9-3 lead midway through the second quarter, but the Explorers rallied back to make it 9-8 at the break. DU was able to stay ahead the entire second half and a 6-1 fourth quarter put the game away.
 
THIS SEASON IN THE RECORD BOOK
Mackenzie Leszczynski and Delaney 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.
 
Leszczynksi's nine points and four assists at La Salle were the most in a game by any Duke this season, while the nine points are tied for the eighth-most in a game in program history.
 
A-10 HONORS
Mackenzie Leszczynski earned A-10 Offensive Player of the Week honors for this week after the five-goal, four-assist outing last Saturday. It was the first A-10 Offensive Player of the Week award for a Duquesne player since Michaela Connolly in April of 2021, and the second A-10 weekly honor for Leszczynski of her career, also named the Defensive Player of the Week for the week of March 22 last season.
 
Chelsea Evans garnered A-10 Rookie of the Week honors on February 27 after a four-goal effort in the first win of the season over Youngstown State.
 
SENIOR DAY
The Duquesne women's lacrosse program will honor graduating seniors Jillian Caroselli and Mady Piersielak prior to the game for their contributions to the program.
 
Caroselli has been a four-year member of the Dukes and will be playing in her 46^th career game. The West Islip, N.Y. native has scored 33 goals and made 15 assists, with a career-best 15 goals and seven assists this season. Last Saturday, she recorded her third hat trick of the season in the win over La Salle and has scored in five straight games. On her career, she has a 91.9% shot on goal percentage over 74 shots. Caroselli will graduate with a major in Integrated Marketing Communications and a minor in Digital Media Arts.
 
Piersielak has been a four-year member of the Dukes, including a redshirt her freshman season, and will be playing her 41^st career game. The Fairport, N.Y. native eclipsed 200 career saves this season, including 102 with a .395 save percentage over 14 games and 12 starts this year. She also has a career-best 32 ground balls this season, currently ranking fifth in the Atlantic 10. Piersielak has made double-digit saves five times in 2023 with a season-high 14 versus Saint Joseph's on March 18. She will graduate with a major in Physician Assistant Studies and will remain at Duquesne to pursue her master's degree.
 
INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS
Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw, a sophomore from Longmeadow, Mass., has scored multiple goals in 13 of the 14 matches this season and is atop the A-10 leaderboard in goals (45) and goals per game (3.21), ranking top-30 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 (5.00) and is second in shots per game (7.36). Rodriguez-Shaw is tied with Leszczynski for the team lead in assists with 13. She ranks sixth in the conference with 48 points, averaging 4.14 per game. Rodriguez-Shaw converts at a 39.1% rate from free position and nets 0.64 FP goals per game.
 
The reigning A-10 Offensive Player of the Week, Mackenzie Leszczynski had her fourth 5-plus goal outing of the season last time out. On the year, she has 54 points with 41 goals and 13 assists, averaging 2.93 goals per game (2^nd 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 eight 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 54.7% of her shots and fires 5.36 shots per game with 4.14 going on goal, all top-seven in the A-10. Leszczynski ranks second in the conference with a 61.9% free position percentage and is third in free position goals per game (0.93) after a 3-for-3 effort from the FP against La Salle. Leszczynski also averages 4.71 draw controls per game, the fifth-most in the A-10.
 
Freshman Chelsea Evans has had multiple goals nine times and scored in 12 of the 14 games this season, while dishing out seven assists. The Marlton, N.J. native nearly doubled her season assists total last time out with three against La Salle, and tied her early career-high with four goals, also hit in the first win of the season at Youngstown State earning her A-10 Rookie of the Week. Evans is third in the A-10 in free-position percentage (61.1%) going 11-for-18, for an average of 0.79 FP goals per game. She also is third on the team with 24 ground balls, one of six to reach the 20 mark.
 
Chloe Holmes, a freshman from Rockford, Mich., snapped a five-game scoreless streak with a season-best four goals at La Salle. Holmes started the season on fire scoring in each of the first eight contests and now has 17 goals on the season along with a pair of assists. She leads the team with a .935 shot on goal percentage, putting 29 of her 31 attempts on target, and a .548 overall shot percentage. Holmes has recorded a shot on goal in 12 of the 14 games this season.
 
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 five games. LaBorne owns a .354 save percentage with 34 saves in 138 shots faced. A season-high 11 saves came in 52 minutes of action at George Mason on March 25. LaBorne played the entire second half for the Dukes at LaSalle and helped them stay in front for all 30 minutes, she recorded five saves facing nine shots against the Explorers.
 
Sophomore Hanna Pawela, from Glen Allen, Va., is top-10 in the NCAA and tied for the A-10 lead forcing 2.43 turnovers per game. Pawela also paces the Dukes in the ground ball department with 38 averaging 2.71 per game, the third-most in the A-10. She has scooped multiple in 10 of the 14 games this season and has had at least one in all but one outing.
 
Casey McBride, a freshman from Manahawkin, N.J., is sixth in the conference in caused turnovers per game averaging 1.58, while junior Emily O'Donnell, from Moorestown, N.J., forces 1.31 per game ranking 11^th in the league.
 
THE COLONIALS
Roster | Stats | Schedule
 
George Washington enters on a two-game skid after a 17-5 loss versus Richmond last Saturday and a midweek 10-9 decision against non-conference foe William & Mary the Wednesday prior. A three-game win streak preceded the current skid, including a pair of wins over A-10 opponents George Mason and VCU to keep them right in the thick of the playoff hunt.
 
Kerry McKeever (35 goals) and Whitney Moran (28 goals) lead the offensive attack, while Katelyn Walker has dished out a team-leading 12 assists.
 
On the defensive side, keeper Mia Caro leads the A-10 averaging 9.36 saves per game and owns a 41.3% save percentage racking up 131 over 14 starts. Freshman midfielder Stella Ray is 4^th in the NCAA and atop the A-10 leaderboard scooping 3.60 ground balls per game.
 
THE SERIES
The Dukes have won the last three matchups against GW, including a thrilling 15-14 comeback victory last season. Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw tied the game at 14 with 40 seconds left and Duquesne rallied for one more just 15 seconds later to secure the win.
 
DU is 9-1 versus the Colonials in the last 10 meetings (since 2011), the lone loss coming in 2017 (9-7). All-time Duquesne leads the series 16-4, with a 9-1 mark on its home turf. This is the first meeting on Rooney Field since 2018, the Dukes have defended their home field each of the last four times.
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Full A-10 Standings
*Top six make A-10 playoffs.
 
GW sits in a tie for 5^th place with St. Bonaventure entering the weekend. The Colonials take on the Bonnies in their regular-season finale next weekend.
 
VCU and George Mason square off this Saturday, both 2-5 in conference tied for 7^th.
 
With a 1-6 record in A-10 action, Duquesne will need to win both of its remaining games and get some help from other teams around the league to obtain a spot in the bracket. The Dukes have not made back-to-back playoffs since the six-year stretch from 2011-2016.
 
UMass is unbeaten in conference play (7-0) and has a game lead on Richmond and Saint Joseph's (both 6-1) at the top of the standings.
 
UP NEXT
Duquesne wraps up the regular season with a road trip to Richmond next Saturday. Start time is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
 
Follow Duquesne Lacrosse all season online at GoDuquesne.com, as well as on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@DuqLax).