Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University women's soccer team concluded the home portion of its 2024 season Thursday, dropping a 3-0 decision to Saint Joseph's at Rooney Field. The Dukes dipped to 9-7-0 (.562) overall with the loss, including 3-6-0 (.333) in the Atlantic 10.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
The Hawks were able to take control early, picking up a pair of goals in the first 11 minutes of the contest to grab a 2-0 advantage. The first marker came courtesy of Emily Hanrahan, who split a pair of Duquesne defenders by weaving through traffic before unleashing a shot at 4:42 that got past senior goalkeeper
Maddy Neundorfer. A little over five minutes later, SJU had a corner kick, with Natalie Nevins playing the ball off her body before Rachel Brown was able to locate the loose ball and score at 11:05.
QUOTABLE
"I think if you look at it as a whole this is the second or third game in a row where we've doubled (our opponent) up in shots," interim head coach
Dave Gray said. "They took a lot of our space away. A lot of their play is based on sitting back and really making it difficult to play against them. They did that again tonight. We're looking for the perfect goal or the perfect shot. We have to find a way to get in the box and scrap for some of those types of goals. Maybe not look for the pretty goal all the time but look for the ugly goal, too."
SPACE INVADERS
Duquesne held a 22-12 cushion in shots in the contest, including a 7-6 edge in shots on goal. The Dukes had a number of opportunities after falling behind, 2-0, with shots either going high, wide or being blocked. Included among the shots was a laser from sophomore
Paige Kuisis that went just wide as well as a shot late in the first half from redshirt freshman
Hailey Longwell that was turned away by Saint Joseph's (7-3-7 | 3-1-5 Atlantic 10) goalkeeper Katie Cappelletti. The pressure for Duquesne continued into the second half, when it looked like Longwell was going to put the Dukes on the board. Her rocket shot, however, hit the right post and ricocheted away from the goal. A total of five players registered at least three shots Thursday for Duquesne, including four from Longwell and sophomore
Jayden Sharpless.
NOTES
Jayda Shehadi helped seal the victory for SJU at 66:54 with her first goal of the year to give the Hawks a 3-0 edge … The loss eliminated the Dukes from the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship … Hanrahan's goal for Saint Joseph's was her fifth of the season … Cappelletti posted seven saves for the Hawks … Neundorfer finished with three saves for Duquesne … Kuisis played a career-high 64 minutes for the Dukes … Duquesne wore its red uniforms for the first time at home during the 2024 season … Playing a full 90 minutes for the Dukes were Sharpless, senior
Ally Campanella and junior
Eva LaVecchia, who has logged a full game 15 out of 16 matches this season for Duquesne, including each of the last 12.
UP NEXT
The Dukes travel to Fairfax, Va., for their final game of the 2024 campaign Sunday, Oct. 27, with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff against George Mason.
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