PITTSBURGH -- The Duquesne University lacrosse team hits the road for an Atlantic 10 matchup against VCU on Saturday.

GAMEDAY INFO
March 30, 2024 | 1:00 PM | Cary Street Field (Richmond, VA)

Duquesne Dukes (6-5, 1-3 A-10)

• Streak: L2 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

VCU Rams (3-8, 2-2 A-10)

• Streak: L1 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

GAMEDAY LINKS

• WATCH LIVE ON ESPN+
• LIVE STATS
• DUQ GAME NOTES

LAST TIME OUT

• Duquesne lost an Atlantic 10 matchup to George Mason, 16-9, on Saturday afternoon at Rooney Field.
• The Dukes held a 9-8 lead midway through the third quarter, but the Patriots took control of the contest and ran away with the win off a 9-0 scoring run spanning the third and fourth quarters ... Neither team led by more than three goals prior to the late run by George Mason ... The Dukes owned a one-goal lead four times.
• Mackenzie Leszczynski and Emma Raines finished the game with two goals apiece to lead seven Duquesne scorers ... Leszczynski, who has scored in 10 straight games, also had an assist for a three-point afternoon.
• Corinne Webb, Tristen Chang, Emelie Curtis, Haley Reeck, and Charlotte Stamper all added a goal each, while Jillian Caroselli and Lindsay Newton tallied assists. Chang has now had a point in nine consecutive outings.
• Hanna Pawela eclipsed 100 career ground balls with a game-high five. Pawela also led all players with eight caused turnovers, her fourth game with eight or more this season - the only player in Division I to have multiple games with 8-plus CTs.

SERIES HISTORY (VCU leads 5-1)

• Last Meeting: Apr. 1, 2023 at DUQ - L, 8-18
• First Meeting: Apr. 8, 2016 at DUQ - W, 12-10
• Streak: L5
• Home/Away Record: (H) 1-2 / (A) 0-3
• Notes: Since winning the first meeting in 2016, Duquesne has dropped five in a row to the Rams and has yet to win in three tries at VCU ... Four of the six matchups have been decided by three goals or less.

PAWELA POWER

• Junior defender Hanna Pawela is averaging 4.45 ground balls per game and 3.82 caused turnovers per game, both good for third in Division I this season.
• Pawela, who went over 100 career ground balls last time out, is nine 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 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 leads Duquesne with 39 draw controls on the season and has had 4+ in three straight games, including a career-best eight in the OT win at George Washington.

SCOUTING THE RAMS

• VCU (3-8) has picked up all three of its wins this season at home (3-3) and is 2-0 in conference play at Cary Street Field with wins over George Mason (24-12) and La Salle (12-8).
• The Rams also dropped A-10 road matchups to Saint Joe's (17-10) and Davidson (18-7).
• VCU is second in the league (behind Duquesne) and 16th nationally averaging 10.00 caused turnovers per game and is fourth in the A-10 in ground balls per game (16.64).
• Three different Rams have hit the 20-goal mark, led by Mia George at 22 ... Ashley Karn has 21 with a team-high 13 assists and Kelsey McDonnell has scored 20, while ranking second in the A-10 in free position goals per game (0.82) with a 45% success rate from the arc.
• VCU is 1-7 when allowing double-digit goals.

DEFENSIVE DUKES

• Duquesne ranks second nationally in caused turnovers per game (14.27) and third in ground balls per game (22.73).
• The Dukes have four of the top-five caused turnover games in the A-10 this season (24 vs. EMU, 20 vs. George Mason, 19 vs. UDM, 17 at Queens) ... The 24 CTs vs. EMU are the second-most by a D1 team in a game 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).
• Four Dukes rank in the top 13 of the of the A-10 in caused turnovers per game (Hanna Pawela - 1st (3.82), Emily King & Casey McBride - tied for 8th (1.36), and Emily O'Donnell - 13th (1.33).

STAT STANDOUTS

• Mackenzie Leszczynski is in the top-five in the A-10 in four stat categories, while leading the league in shots on goal per game (5.18) ... She is also second in free position percentage (.500), third in shots per game (6.00) and fourth in free position goals per game (0.73).
• Corinne Webb, who missed the entire 2023 season with an injury, leads the team with 25 goals, which ranks seventh in the conference ... Webb scored in each of the first six games and recorded her sixth hat trick of the year at GW.
• As a team, DU is fourth in the A-10 averaging 21.27 shots on goal per game.
• Senior Emelie Curtis ranks seventh in the A-10 with 15 assists ... Her five assists in the win over EMU were the most in a game by a Duke since March 2019, and are tied for third-most in a game by an A-10 player this year.

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).

CAREER MILESTONES FOR LESZCZYNSKI

• Junior Mackenzie Leszczynski recorded her 100th career point as a Duke in the win over Akron, currently at 119 (91 goals).
• Leszczynski is two draw controls away from entering the top-five in Duquesne program history for career draw controls (currently at 155 - Clare Hurley (2012-15) is fifth all time with 157).

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 (1-3) tied for seventh
• Rams (2-2) tied for fifth
• Full standings, click here.

• Duquesne hosts UMass next Saturday (Apr 6) at Rooney Field for its One Love Foundation Game. First draw is scheduled for noon.