PITTSBURGH -- The Duquesne University lacrosse team is set to host George Mason on Saturday at Rooney Field in Atlantic 10 action.

GAMEDAY INFO
March 23, 2024 | 12:00 PM | Arthur J. Rooney Field (Pittsburgh, PA)

George Mason Patriots (6-5, 0-3 A-10)

• Streak: L4 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

Duquesne Dukes (6-4, 1-2 A-10)

• Streak: L1 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

GAMEDAY LINKS

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• LIVE STATS
• DUQ GAME NOTES

SERIES HISTORY (Tied 4-4)

• Last Meeting: Mar. 25, 2023 at GMU - L, 11-17
• First Meeting: Apr. 6, 2014 at GMU - W, 21-13
• Streak: L1
• Home/Away Record: (H) 2-2 / (A) 2-2
• Notes: George Mason has won four of the last five after DU won the first three games of the series in 2014-15-16.

LAST TIME OUT

• Duquesne fell to St. Bonaventure, 19-6, Wednesday on the road in Atlantic 10 action.
• The Dukes surrendered the first eight goals before Mackenzie Leszczynski's 21st goal of the season at 8:44 in the second quarter put Duquesne on the board. Leszczynski added her 22nd of the year, extending her scoring streak to nine consecutive games.
• Lizzie Cleary also had her first career brace during a three-goal scoring run for DU, but the Bonnies closed the game with six straight goals cruising to victory.
• Tristen Chang and Emily King added a goal apiece. Chang has now had a point in eight straight outings.

PAWELA POWER

• Junior defender Hanna Pawela is averaging 4.40 ground balls per game and 3.40 caused turnovers per game, both good for third in Division I this season.
• Pawela is three ground balls and 17 caused turnovers away from 100 in her career.
• She set a new DU single-game record vs. EMU with 10 CTs - it was the most by a DI player since Elizabeth Small (Sacred Heart) had 10 against Vermont on 2/28/20.
• Pawela has three games with eight or more CTs, the only player with multiple games over seven in Division I this season.
• Pawela has been named the A-10 Defensive Player of the Week twice this season ... Most recently on Mar. 5 after posting 14 GBs and 13 CTs in a 2-0 week for DU ... Her first honor was on Feb. 19 after her record 10 CTs and a career-high eight GBs vs. EMU.

KING ME

• Junior midfielder Emily King, a transfer from Towson, raced in to score the game-winning goal in overtime at George Washington with less than two minutes to play in overtime for the Dukes' first A-10 win ... Emelie Curtis forced the extra period with a free-position goal in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.
• King scored her third goal of the season last time out at SBU and has scored in back-to-back contests ... She also had a career-best six ground balls and eight draw controls at GW ... King leads Duquesne with 35 draw controls on the season.

HOME SWEET HOME

• The Dukes defended their home turf at Rooney Field with a perfect, 4-0 early-season homestand ... All four contests were against MAC members (Eastern Michigan, Youngstown State, Detroit Mercy, & Akron).
• Duquesne is now 4-1 at home this season after a loss to nationally ranked Richmond.

SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS

• George Mason, who started the season 5-0, is on a four-game losing streak, three of which in A-10 play.
• The Patriots battled No. 25 ranked Richmond but came up just short, falling 15-14 on Wednesday.
• George Mason is in the top-half of the Atlantic 10 in nearly every team statistic ... The Patriots are third in the A-10 and 19th nationally in shot percentage (.476) and have the third-highest scoring offense (13.36) in the conference.
• Shannon Tuozzo leads the Atlantic 10 and is 15th in the country with 34 goals and is the conference leader in shots per game (7.30/game).
• GMU is 4-0 when scoring more than 15 goals and 0-3 when scoring 10 or less ... The Patriots are also 1-4 when allowing more than 10 goals.
• On the road this season, George Mason is 2-3.

DEFENSIVE DUKES

• Duquesne ranks second nationally in both caused turnovers per game (13.70) and ground balls per game (23.00).
• The Dukes have four of the top-five caused turnover games in the A-10 this season (24 vs. EMU, 19 vs. UDM, 17 at Queens, 16 vs. Akron) ... The 24 CTs vs. EMU are the second-most by a D1 team this season.
• DU is the only A-10 team with multiple games recording more than 30 ground balls (35 vs. Detroit Mercy & 34 at Radford).

STAT STANDOUTS

• Senior Emelie Curtis ranks fourth the A-10 with 15 assists ... The Yardley, Pa. product has three games with three or more assists this season ... Her five assists in the win over EMU were the most in a game by a Duke since March 2019, and are tied for the most in a game by an A-10 player this year.
• Mackenzie Leszczynski is in the top-five in the A-10 in three stat categories; free position goals (0.80/g - 2nd), shots on goal (4.80/g - 3rd), and free position percentage (.571 - 3rd) ... Her team-leading 30 points rank eighth in the A-10.
• Corinne Webb, who missed the entire 2023 season with an injury, leads the team with 24 goals, which ranks sixth in the conference ... Webb scored in each of the first six games and recorded her sixth hat trick of the year at GW ... Webb is also fourth in the A-10 in free position percentage (.545).
• As a team, DU is fourth in the A-10 averaging 21.10 shots on goal per game.

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).

CENTURY CLUB

• Junior Mackenzie Leszczynski recorded her 100th career point as a Duke in the win over Akron, currently at 116 (89 goals).
• Leszczynski is five draw controls away from entering the top-five in Duquesne program history for career draw controls (currently at 152 - Clare Hurley (2012-15) is fifth all time with 157).

STRONG START

• Duquesne started the season 5-1, the best start since 4-1 in 2019 (Coach Desrosiers first season) ... The five-game win streak was the longest for DU since 2014, when the Dukes won 10 in a row during a 14-4 season.
• DU's 3-1 start was just the third time (2014 & '19) with three wins in the first four games of a season since 2001.

CLOSE GAME CLOSERS

• The Dukes have not lost a game this season (5-0) that has been decided by five goals or less.
• Duquesne also is 5-0 when leading at halftime and 6-0 when scoring 10 goals.

• Dukes (1-2) tied for sixth
• Patriots (0-2) tied for eighth
• Full standings, click here.

• Duquesne travels to VCU next Saturday (Mar. 30) for a 1:00 pm first draw in Virginia.