Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University women's soccer team had its 2025 season come to an end in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship Saturday, as Fordham outscored the Dukes, 6-5, in penalty kicks to advance after a 1-1 tie through 110 minutes. Duquesne concludes the year with an overall record of 12-5-2 (.684).
 
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Fordham advanced when goalkeeper Kyla King was able to come up with the save during penalty kicks on the sixth opportunity for the Dukes. The Rams were a perfect 6-for-6 to that point, with King sealing the victory after racking up 14 saves during 90 minutes of regulation and overtime. The 14 saves are the most by a student-athlete at Rooney Field since Romina Kunze of Saint Francis also stopped 14 shots by the Dukes in a 3-0 win for Duquesne August 23, 2015. Kunze also owns the Rooney Field record for most saves with 26, which was set just two days earlier against Pitt in a neutral site contest. That game saw the Red Flash and Panthers tie, 1-1.   
 
QUOTABLE
"I'm so proud of them," head coach Jessica Giegucz said. "I asked them to leave a legacy and adapt to change. They did everything that was asked of them. They're a special group. I hope they feel good about what they did this year. In the current moment, obviously, it hurts a little bit, but I hope the entirety of the team, not just the senior class, is proud of what they've become. A lot of people saw the change and embraced it. It feels special because of the community."
 
EARLY RISERS
The Rams grabbed the lead less than six minutes into the contest, 1-0, when Riley Carroll buried the opening score at 5:16, but Duquesne was able to get the equalizer late in the first half to send the game into halftime tied, 1-1. A long pass from senior forward Libby Majka saw junior Paige Kuisis provide a header that sailed over King and into the upper left of the goal to tie the contest at 40:16.
 
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"We gave up an early goal and there was a ton of resilience that we had after that," Giegucz said. "Going down early is obviously not ideal, but the amount of effort that the girls put in after that was pretty incredible. There's a lot that can't be taken away from them, and resiliency is one of them. We created a ton of opportunities, but credit to their goalie. A lot of this is life lessons that they'll take away, regardless of what happens on the field. Hopefully they can carry forward with that."
 
NOTES
The goal for Kuisis was her second of the year … Duquesne owned a 35-19 advantage in shots, including 15-8 on target … Senior forward Maya Matesa finished with a team-high eight shots, while senior forward Brianna Moore added seven … Julia Acosta scored on the penalty kick in the sixth round for the Rams … Junior goalkeeper Ali Hughes tied a career high with seven saves, including a diving stop in the second half that kept the score deadlocked … A total of seven Dukes played the full 110 minutes, as joining Matesa and Moore were the backline of Lindsay Krafchick, Reagan Basehore and Claire Highland and Jayden Sharpless and Kayla Leseck … Leseck registered five shots, including two on goal … Sharpless concluded the 2025 campaign playing every minute of each of Duquesne's 19 games, a total of 1,730.
 
THANK YOU
The 11 seniors that played their final game Saturday for Duquesne concluded their respective careers with a combined 190 points courtesy of 72 goals and 46 assists … Matesa established single-season standards for the program in goals (17) and points (39) and wraps up her career as Duquesne's career leader in goals (29) while ranking second in points (69) … Moore concluded her four years on the Bluff with 51 points thanks to 22 goals and seven assists … Over the last four seasons, Matesa and Moore combined for 120 points, the most by a duo for the Dukes in school history … Senior Cait Mackey collected one of the five scores for Duquesne Saturday on the penalty kick … Senior Mackenzie Muir closes her career on the Bluff with 41 points thanks to 14 goals and 13 assists … As a team, Duquesne set a new program single-season record for both goals (44) and points (113) … The Dukes also tied a program standard for wins (12).
 
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