GAME 12
VCU (4-6-2 | 2-1-0 A-10) at Duquesne (7-3-1 | 2-1-0 Atlantic 10)
Thursday, Oct. 2 | 7:00 p.m.
Rooney Field | Pittsburgh, Pa.

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From The Pitch

- The Duquesne University women's soccer team opens a two-game homestand at Rooney Field Thursday with a 7:00 p.m. match against VCU.

- The Dukes closed out a two-game road swing with a 2-0 setback at Dayton (9/28). The Flyers got a pair of goals in the second half from Liv Grenda and Olivia Baca en route to the win.

- Duquesne opened its road swing with a 1-0 triumph over George Washington (9/25) at Mount Vernon Athletic Complex in Washington, D.C.

- Senior forward Brianna Moore buried the lone goal of the contest in the win over Revolutionaries at 10:01 on a feed from senior forward Maya Matesa.

- The Dukes opened their Atlantic 10 slate with a 3-0 victory over Richmond (9/21) at Rooney Field, improving to 13-15-3 (.458) all-time in conference openers.

- Senior forward Maya Matesa opened the scoring in the win over the Spiders, finding the back of the net at 10:18 to register the eventual game-winning goal.

- Matesa established a new Duquesne single-season record with her goal against Richmond. She enters Thursday's match against the Rams leading the Atlantic 10 in goals (11) and points (24), totals that rank second and fifth, respectively, in NCAA Division I. Matesa is also tied with Liina Tervo of Fordham for the most game-winning goals in the A-10 with four.

- In the second half of the win over the Spiders, senior forward Brianna Moore gave the Dukes a 2-0 lead early in the second half by scoring on a header at 46:18, while junior forward Kaitlyn Killinger sealed the win at 82:17 with her second goal of the campaign.

- Thanks to a goal and an assist in the win over Richmond, junior forward Kaitlyn Killinger was named the Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week. Killinger joins senior forward Maya Matesa in garnering the weekly accolade this season, as Matesa earned the honor in back-to-back weeks to open the year.

- Duquesne enters Thursday's tilt ranked third in NCAA Division I in shots per game (22.45), second in shots on goals per contest (10.36) as well as sixth in corner kicks (8.00) per game. The Dukes are one of three programs averaging over 10 shots on goal per game, joining Stanford (11.64) out of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and Jacksonville (10.10) of the ASUN.

- The Dukes have registered at least 20 shots in a game seven times this season, including a season-high 39 shots in a 2-2 draw at Eastern Kentucky (9/21) in its non-conference finale. That total tied a program single-game record.

- The Dukes are led by head coach Jessica Giegucz, who is in her first year at the helm of the program after spending the last 10 years as the head coach at NCAA Division II Slippery Rock out of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).

- Giegucz was named the sixth head coach in program history at Duquesne Dec. 20, 2024. In 10 seasons leading the Rock, Giegucz compiled an overall record of 104-48-24 (.659). She began her coaching career in Ashland, Wisc., at NCAA Division III Northland College, where she posted a mark of 11-9-1 (.548) in 2014 prior to being tabbed the head coach at Slippery Rock.

- Duquesne's win at Mercyhurst (8/24) marked the 200th game for Jessica Giegucz as a head coach in stints at Northland College, Slippery Rock and Duquesne. In 12 seasons as a head coach, Giegucz owns an overall record of 122-60-26 (.649).

- Duquesne will host Senior Day Sunday, Oct. 5, after taking on the Rams Sunday, honoring the latest graduating class prior to a 1:00 p.m. match against George Mason at Rooney Field.

Scouting the Rams – Located in Richmond, Va. … VCU has compiled an overall mark of 4-6-2 (.417), including a 2-1 (.667) record in the Atlantic 10 after a 2-0 home triumph over Saint Joseph's (9/28) … Freshman forward Isabelle Franklin and redshirt junior Jensyn Lins each have scored two goals and own four assists to enter Sunday's match against the Dukes leading the squad in points (8) … Franklin owns goals in each of her last two contests, including the only strike in a 2-1 loss to Saint Louis (9/25) … Junior keeper Mia Pongratz has started all 12 games for the Rams and owns a .724 save percentage to go along with 55 saves and a 1.76 goals against average … Lauryn Hutchinson (VCU '13) was named the seventh head coach in program history Feb. 12, 2025, and is in her first year leading her alma mater.

Head of the Class – The 11 student-athletes that make up the senior class for Duquesne in 2025 has put up some strong numbers since the beginning of the 2022 season, combining for 158 points thanks to 59 goals and 40 assists. Senior forward Maya Matesa is the program's active career leader for goals with 23, while senior forward Brianna Moore has tallied 19 career strikes. Senior midfielder Mackenzie Muir, meanwhile, is the program's active career leader in assists with 13. Combined, that trio has racked up 52 goals and 27 assists. A member of the senior class for Duquesne was involved in nine consecutive goals scored by the Dukes dating to last season before junior forward Kayla Leseck gave the Dukes a 5-0 lead at Mercyhurst (8/24) with her second career goal at 59:49.

Dynamic Duo – Senior forwards Maya Matesa and Brianna Moore are closing in on rare company as the Dukes get into the thick of their Atlantic 10 schedule. Over the last four seasons, the pair has combined for 98 points. Only one duo in program history has combined to score 100 career points, with former Dukes Katie O'Connor (67) and by Losco (37) combining for 104 points as teammates from 2015 to 2018. Matesa and Moore are seven points shy of becoming the top scoring tandem on the Bluff.

Adding To The Tally – Senior midfield Reese Kershner collected her first career NCAA Division I goal in a 4-0 win over Youngstown State (9/11), scoring on a rebound in the first half that propelled the Dukes to the win. In addition to the score being the first career goal for Kershner, it was her first game-winning strike, and she became the ninth different member of the senior class to register on the scoresheet during their career on the Bluff.

Did You Know? A member of the senior class has scored 22 of the 26 goals for Duquesne this season, including seven of the last eight entering Thursday's game against VCU.

Alone At The Top – The scoring exploits of senior forward Maya Matesa has her putting together arguably the finest offensive season in program history. In just the ninth match of the 2025 season, Matesa established a new single-season school record for goals, as her strike in a 3-0 win over Richmond (9/21) marked her 11th of the year. The goal snapped a three-way tie atop the list, as midfield Lauren Bracco (2000-03) originally scored 10 goals to establish the record in 2003, a number that was matched in 2015 by forward Katie O'Connor (2015-18). Matesa also established a new Duquesne single-game record with 11 shots in a 4-0 win over Youngstown State (9/11), and she enters Thursday's game with career totals of 23 goals, eight assists and 54 points. Just the fourth player in school history to eclipse the 50-point plateau, Matesa ranks third all-time in the Duquesne career record book for points.

Did You Know? Duquesne is 13-1-1 (.900) over the last four seasons when senior forward Maya Matesa scores a goal. During that stretch, Matesa has scored multiple goals in a game seven times.

Back and Forth – Senior forward Mackenzie Muir notched each of her four goals last season on the home turf of Rooney Field. That's a stark contrast to her previous four career markers, which all came on the road during her rookie campaign in 2022. In the 2025 season opener, a 3-2 victory at Kent State (8/17), Muir tied the contest, 2-2, by converting on a penalty kick and in the process collected her first road goal since her freshman year. She added another road goal in a 2-2 draw at Eastern Kentucky (9/14) in Duquesne's non-conference finale, and the Dukes are 8-1-1 (.850) over the last four seasons when Muir finds the back of the net.

Light Up Night – During the 2024 season, Duquesne reached the 90-point plateau for just the seventh time in program history as well as the first time since 2016, when the Dukes scored 97 points. Duquesne finished last year with 93 points, while the school record for points in a season is 104, which came in 2004. Through 11 contests of the 2025 season, the Dukes have amassed 66 points thanks to 26 goals and 14 assists.

Lineup Stalwart – Junior Jayden Sharpless has been a steady presence for the Dukes in the midfield over the last three seasons, as she is the only player in that stretch to have started all 48 games dating to the beginning of the 2023 campaign. Sharpless owns career totals of a goal and an assist on 52 shots, 20 of which have been on frame. Sharpless is also the only field player for the Dukes this season to have played 990 out of a possible 990 minutes.

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