Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University women's soccer team opened its 2024 campaign on Thursday night, capturing a 6-2 victory over Mercyhurst in non-conference action at Arthur J. Rooney Field. With the victory, the Dukes improve to 1-0 on the season and 5-2 (.714) in home openers under head coach
Al Alvine at Rooney Field.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Duquesne came out firing in the opening five minutes as it registered three shots, two being blocked and one put on goal to open the contest. The Dukes got on the board first at the 10:23 mark as sophomore
Hailey Longwell netted the opening goal of the 2024 season, on an assist from junior
Margey Brown. Less than two and half minutes later, Duquesne doubled its lead as Brown corralled a rebound off a shot from junior
Mackenzie Muir and found the left corner of the net to give the Dukes an early 2-0 advantage.
Later in the half, Mercyhurst would trim the deficit as Rosie Bandura found the back of the net in the 30
th minute to cut the Dukes lead, 2-1. Duquesne would respond three minutes later as junior
Lindsay Krafchick would intercept a pass and find the top left corner of the net from 25-yards out to increase the Dukes advantage, 3-1. Duquesne would tally two more kicks in the final three minutes before taking a 3-1 lead into the half.
The Dukes dominated the opening 45 minutes as they outshot the Lakers 18-2 while holding an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal.
KEPT ON ROLLING
It took Duquesne just 1:45 into the second half to pick up right where they left off as Brown netted her second score of the contest on a pass from senior
Mackenzie Leeder. In the 53
rd minute, Leeder placed a shot on goal that rebounded to Longwell, who found the right side of the net to extend the Dukes lead, 5-1. Duquesne would grab its largest lead of the night at the 55:21 mark, when Brown found the back of the net for the third time, carding her first career hat-trick. Muri and classmate
Eva LaVecchia were credited with an assist.
SCORING PLAYS
11' –
Hailey Longwell (Goal), Assisted by:
Margey Brown
13' –
Margey Brown (Goal)
34' –
Lindsay Krafchick (Goal)
47' –
Margey Brown (Goal), Assisted by:
Mackenzie Leeder
53' –
Hailey Longwell (Goal)
56' –
Margey Brown (Goal), Assisted by:
Mackenzie Muir,
Eva LaVecchia
SIX PIECE
The Dukes were led by
Margey Brown, who recorded her first career hat-trick. She totaled seven points on the night, tallying three scores and one assist on six total shots.
Hailey Longwell recorded a pair of scores while placing three shots on goal and
Lindsay Krafchick found the back of the net once.
Mackenzie Leeder,
Eva LaVecchia, and
Mackenzie Muir all tallied an assist in the win. The Dukes dominated the stat sheet, outshooting the Lakers 35-3 while holding a 19-2 advantage in shots on goal and a 7-2 lead in corner kicks.
DID YOU KNOW?
The six goals by Duquesne were the second most scores in a season opener in program history - behind the 1995 team - where the Dukes were in their first season being a Division I program, defeating RMU 9-1. The six markers are the most goals in a game since the 2019 campaign and most in a home opener since the 2005 season. In 13 years under Alvine, the Dukes tied for the most goals in a competition under his tutelage and scored the most in a season opener.
UP NEXT
Duquesne returns to the pitch when it heads across the Monongahela River to take on Pitt Sunday, August 18, at 3:00 p.m. at Highmark Stadium.
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