Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University women's soccer team returned to action for the first time in a week Sunday, traveling to St. Louis, Mo., and dropping a 2-1 decision to Saint Louis at Hermann Stadium. The Dukes slipped to 9-4-1 (.679) overall during the 2025 season, including 4-2 (.667) in the Atlantic 10.
 
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
The Billikens collected each of their goals in the opening 45 minutes of play, grabbing a 1-0 lead on a set piece. Eva Schreiber placed a ball into the box off a corner kick, and Lucie Schwartz was able to provide a header that found the upper left corner of the net at 26:53. Duquesne almost had the equalizer a minute later, as off a throw in senior forward Brianna Moore turned and chipped a pass to the near corner of the net. Junior forward Kaitlyn Killinger was on the charge, but Emma Parker came up with a big save to keep SLU on top. The Dukes outshot the Billikens, 6-4, in the opening half and also owned a 12-7 cushion in the category overall.
 
EXTENSION
The only two shots on target for Saint Louis (11-2-1 | 6-0-0 Atlantic 10) proved to be strikes. Clearing out of its defensive end, Izzy Luebbert placed a perfect pass to Caroline Chier, who split a pair of defenders and raced down the near side. Chier pushed a centering pass in the middle of the box, with Nina Preusser sliding and scoring to give the Billikens a 2-0 cushion at 35:26. It was a key goal, as it proved to be the game winner on the afternoon.
 
FORWARD MOMENTUM
The Dukes were able to cut their deficit in half just under eight minutes after the break, with the senior forward pair of Maya Matesa and Brianna Moore connecting again. Matesa pushed forward with a header, and Moore raced to the ball, beating her defender with a burst of speed before slicing it past Parker into the bottom left corner of the net to make it 2-1 at 52:22. It was a historic goal for the duo, as Matesa (58) and Moore (48) are the now to top-scoring tandem in Duquesne history with 106 combined points. They surpassed former Dukes Katie O'Connor (67) and Abby Losco (37), who registered 104 points as teammates from 2015 to 2018. In addition, the assist for Matesa pushed her point total for the 2025 campaign to 28, establishing a new program single-season scoring standard. Matesa eclipsed Audra Mathews (2004-07), who owned the record of 27 that she established as a freshman in 2004.
 
NOTES
The Dukes continued to hold momentum the rest of the second half but were unable to come up with the equalizer, with Parker coming up with five saves on the afternoon for SLU … The goal for Moore was the 21st of her career, moving her into a tie for third in the Duquesne career record book with Mathews … The goal for Moore also was the first for Duquesne against Saint Louis since a 3-1 victory for the Dukes at Rooney Field Sept. 23, 2021 … Duquesne held a 5-3 edge in corner kicks … Each of the three shots taken Sunday by junior Kayla Leseck were on target, including one at 73:19 in attempt to tie the contest that saw Parker reject … Leseck owns 16 shots on goal the last eight games after just three in the opening six contests of the year … Leseck was also one of six Dukes to play a full 90 minutes against the Billikens, joining Moore, junior Jayden Sharpless and the backline of Lindsay Krafchick, Eva LaVecchia and Reagan Basehore.
 
UP NEXT
Duquesne returns home to Rooney Field to host Loyola Chicago Thursday, Oct. 16, in a 7:00 p.m. game that will serve as the program's Breast Cancer Awareness Game.
 
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