PITTSBURGH -- The Duquesne University lacrosse team will look to extend its three-game winning streak on Tuesday afternoon, hosting Akron to wrap up a four-game, early-season homestand.

GAMEDAY INFO
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 | 4:00 PM | Arthur J. Rooney Field
Akron Zips (1-3, 0-0 MAC) vs. Duquesne Dukes (3-1, 0-0 A-10)

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• DUQ GAME NOTES

SERIES HISTORY

• Dukes lead 1-0
• Last Meeting: Mar. 11, 2020 at Akron - W, 25-2
• First Meeting: Mar. 11, 2020 at Akron - W, 25-2
• Streak: W1
• Home/Away Record: (H) 0-0 / (A) 1-0

LAST TIME OUT

• Lindsay Newton scored two and a half minutes into the game and the Dukes never trailed on way to their third straight victory, 13-7 over Detroit Mercy, on Saturday afternoon at Rooney Field.
• After a 7-3 Duquesne lead at the half, the Titans (0-2) scored three straight goals and narrowed the margin to one (7-6) at the 5:28 mark in the third quarter. The Dukes answered with six straight goals, four of which in the opening six minutes of the fourth quarter, to take back control and secure the win.
• Corinne Webb led the way scoring four goals for the third straight game. She also dished out two assists for a game-high six points.
• Senior Emelie Curtis racked up five points off two goals and three assists, while Mackenzie Leszczynski tallied her second hat trick of the season, and Senior Day honorees Jillian Caroselli (2), Tristen Chang (1) and Lindsay Newton (1) all added scores ... Newton, Chang, Leszczynski and Gracin Emerson all had an assist apiece.
• DU fired off a season-high 37 shots, outshooting UDM 37-17 and 29-12 on goal.
• Hanna Pawela paced the defense with game highs in caused turnovers (8), ground balls (8), and draw controls (5).
• Prior to the game, Duquesne honored eight final year players for Senior Day; Jillian Caroselli, Lindsay Newton, Rachel O'Toole, Miranda Held, Emelie Curtis, Emily O'Donnell, Nina Burns, and Tristen Chang.

THREE IN A ROW

• Duquesne, winners of three straight, improved to 3-1 with Saturday's win, the best start since starting 4-0 in 2019 (Coach Desrosiers first season) ... It is just the third time (2014 & '19) with three wins in the first four games of a season since 2001.

WELCOME BACK WEBB

• Corinne Webb has made an immediate impact early on with a team-leading 13 goals after missing all of 2023 with an injury ... She has scored in all four games with four goals in each of the three games during the win streak.

NATIONAL LEADER x2

• Junior defender Hanna Pawela leads the NCAA averaging 4.75 caused turnovers per game AND 5.00 ground balls per game.

SCOUTING THE ZIPS

• Akron, led by first-year head coach Elaine Jones, enters 1-3 and is coming off its largest loss of the season on Sunday (18-3) against Ohio State.
• The Zips picked up their win against Atlantic 10 member St. Bonaventure, 15-12 at home on Feb. 14.
• Akron went 2-15 last season, with both wins coming on the road (2-7) ... The Zips are 0-2 away from home so far this year.
• Nine Zips have scored this season, led by freshman midfielder Sienna Hinchcliffe with seven goals.
• 21 of the 35 Akron goals have been assisted, freshman Kaitlyn Sikorski leads the team and the MAC with five.
• Junior keeper Hannah Sanders has 32 saves, the second-most in the MAC so far, averaging eight per game and ranks fifth nationally in ground balls per game (4.50).
• The Zips' .879 clearing percentage and just 12.0 turnovers per game lead the MAC.

HOME SWEET HOME

• The Dukes, playing their third game in six days, finish a four-game homestand - tied for the longest since five in a row at Rooney Field in 2014.
• All four of the games during the homestand are against MAC members (Eastern Michigan, Youngstown State, Detroit Mercy, & Akron).

STAT CHECK

• The Dukes lead all of Division I averaging 26.25 ground balls per game, and are second in caused turnovers per game at 15.75.
• Duquesne dishes out 7.25 assists per game, which is 23rd nationally.
• Mackenzie Leszczynski leads the A-10 in shots on goal per game (5.50) and is second in total shots per game (7.50).
• Duquesne has four players in the top-six of the A-10 in caused turnovers per game; Pawela (1st - 4.75), Emily O'Donnell (4th - 2.00), Lizzie Cleary & Emily King (T6th - 1.75).
• Goalkeeper Rachel O'Toole is third in the A-10 averaging 3.00 ground balls per game.

CURTIS CONNECTION

• Senior Emelie Curtis leads the A-10 and ranks eighth in Division I with 13 assists.
• The Yardley, Pa. product has had three or more assists in each of the three wins this season.
• Curtis leads the Dukes with 16 points, also scoring three goals - two of which came last game (tying a career-high).
• Curtis' five assists in the win over EMU were the most in a game by a Duke since March 2019.

MAGIC NUMBER 16

• The Dukes are 23-1 in the Desrosiers Era (since 2019) when scoring more than 15 goals ... 2-0 this season (EMU and YSU).

RECORD-SETTER EARNS A-10 WEEKLY HONOR

• Junior Hanna Pawela was named the A-10 Defensive Player of the Week on Feb. 19 after she set a single-game DU record with 10 caused turnovers and had a career-best eight ground balls in the home-opening win over EMU.
• The 10 caused turnovers are the most by any player in Division I since Elizabeth Small (Sacred Heart) had 10 against Vermont on Feb. 28, 2020.
• It was the first weekly honor of Pawela's career.

UP NEXT

• The Dukes head south for a pair of road matchups against Radford on Saturday and Queens the following Tuesday. Both games are scheduled for an 11:00 am first draw.

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