Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University women's soccer team snapped a two-game slide and picked up a big three points in the process Sunday, earning a 2-1 victory over Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia, Pa., at Sean Sweeney Field. In collecting their first win over the Hawks since 2007, the Dukes improved to 10-5-1 (.656) overall during the 2005 season, including 5-3 (.625) in the Atlantic 10.
 
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Duquesne was able to grab the lead in the first half courtesy of a penalty kick. Junior forward Kayla Leseck came racing down the near side and upon entering the box to set up for a cross was taken down by Gracie Salais. Senior forward Maya Matesa was called upon to take the shot from the spot, and she converted at 16:43 to give the Dukes a 1-0 advantage. It marked the 25th career goal for Matesa, tying the program career standard that was originally established by former forward Katie O'Connor from 2015 to 2018.
 
THE EQUALIZER
The Hawks battled back, evening the contest, 1-1, just over five minutes later. Inserted into the lineup just a minute-and-a-half prior, Jayda Shehadi quickly made her presence felt. Chelsea Leal placed a ball that split a pair of Duquesne defenders, and Shehadi was able to get behind the defense before slipping the ball past junior goalkeeper Ali Hughes at 21:45. It mark the third goal of the season for Shehadi, who finished with six shots, including four on goal, in 53 minutes off the bench for Saint Joseph's (5-10-1 | 2-6-0 Atlantic 10).
 
WHO ELSE?
Less than four minutes after the Hawks were able to tie the contest, Matesa came through again for the Dukes in collecting what would prove to be the game-winning goal. A heads-up play led to the score, as SJU goalkeeper Alli Popham was looking to clear with a goal kick before Matesa decided to go on the rush and bring pressure. Just before Popham kicked the ball, Matesa leapt into the air and blocked the ball with her right foot. A scramble in front of the net ensued, with Matesa corralling the ball and poking it into the back of the net to give Duquesne a 2-1 lead at 25:27. Less than 10 minutes after tying the Duquesne career record for goals, Matesa sits alone atop the list, as the strike was her 26th goal since the beginning of the 2022 season. More impressively, the Dukes improved to 15-1-1 (.912) over the last four years when Matesa scores a goal.
 
STANDING TALL
Hughes made the second goal from Matesa stand Sunday, matching a career high for the second consecutive game with seven saves, including a few of the highlight variety. Four of those saves came in the second half, including a pair within eight seconds as Saint Joseph's was looking to tie the game again. Sarah Fisher put a shot on net that Hughes dove to stop and as the ball trickled away, she came up with another save on a shot from Shehadi.  
 
NOTES
Duquesne owned a record of 0-8-4 (.167) in its last 12 meetings with Saint Joseph's before Sunday's victory, as the previous win for the Dukes over the Hawks came with a 2-0 triumph Oct. 21, 2007, in Philadelphia … Duquesne has reached 10 wins for the fifth time in program history and the first time since winning 11 games in 2017 … Matesa became the third player on the Bluff to eclipse the 60-point plateau, as she owns 62 career points after her two goals Sunday against SJU … Matesa also moved into a tie for third place in the Duquesne career record book for game-winning goals (8) with former Dukes Faye Rasmussen (2004-07) and Linnea Faccenda (2014-17) … O'Connor owns the career mark for game-winning goals with 10 … For Duquesne, 10 of its 16 shots (62.5%) were on target compared to eight shots on goal out of 12 (66.7%) for the Hawks … Matesa played a full 90 minutes along with senior Lindsay Krafchick and junior Reagan Basehore on the backline and junior Jayden Sharpless in the midfield … Freshmen Claire Highland and Emerson Connelly each saw extended run for Duquesne, with Highland playing a career-high 34 minutes and Connelly logging 33 minutes in her first action since playing six minutes at Dayton (9/28).
 
UP NEXT
Duquesne concludes its two-game road swing Thursday, Oct. 23, with a 7:00 p.m. match in Olean, N.Y., against St. Bonaventure.
 
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