PITTSBURGH — The Duquesne University lacrosse team hosts VCU in an Atlantic 10 matchup on Saturday at Rooney Field.

GAMEDAY INFO
Mar. 22, 2025 • 1:00 PM • Rooney Field (Pittsburgh, PA)

Duquesne Dukes (5-3, 2-1 A-10)
Roster • Schedule • Stats

• Streak: L1
• Last Game: L, 19-7 at UMass (Sat. Mar. 15)
• Next Game: Wed. Mar. 26 vs. St. Bonaventure (3 pm)

VCU Rams (4-5, 2-1 A-10)
Roster • Schedule • Stats

• Streak: W2
• Last Game: W, 16-7 vs. George Washington (Sat. Mar. 15)
• Next Game: Wed. Mar. 26 at Richmond (7 pm)

GAMEDAY LINKS

• WATCH ON ESPN+
• LIVE STATS
• DUQ GAME NOTES

SERIES HISTORY

• VCU leads 6-1
• Last Meeting: Mar. 30, 2024 at VCU - L, 20-5
• First Meeting: Apr. 8, 2016 at DUQ - W, 12-10
• Streak: L6
• Home/Away Record: (H) 1-2 / (A) 0-4
• Notes: After battling to a 2-2 tie in the opening six minutes, VCU scored nine straight to take control of last year's matchup .... Leszczynski scored twice to lead DU ... Two of the previous three meetings at Rooney Field have been decided by two goals (11-9 VCU win in 2018 and 12-10 DUQ win in 2016).

CURRENT A-10 STANDINGS

• Duquesne (2-1) - Tied for 4th
• VCU (2-1) - Tied for 4th
• Full standings, click here.

LAST TIME OUT

• Duquesne dropped a 19-7 decision at UMass last Saturday.
• Tristen Chang led the Dukes with two goals, both coming in the final frame.
• Kelsea Cooke scored for the third consecutive game.
• Chloe Holmes tallied her first goal of the season.
• Chelsea Evans, Haley Reeck and Addison Scanlon also found the back of the net.
• Freshman Korrigan Sweeney tied her season high with 10 saves in relief, playing the final 42 minutes in goal.

DEFENSIVE DUKES

• Duquesne ranks 4th in Division I and leads the A-10 with 12.25 caused turnovers per game ... The Dukes are 2nd in the A-10 and 26th nationally in ground balls per game (18.00).
  • Last season, Duquesne led the nation in ground balls per game (22.82) and ranked 2nd nationally in caused turnovers per game (14.47).
• Hanna Pawela leads the A-10 and ranks 8th nationally with 2.75 caused turnovers per game ... Also 2nd in the A-10 and 23rd in Division I in ground balls per game (2.88).
  • Last season, Pawela was #1 nationally in caused turnovers per game and #2 in ground balls per game.
• Chelsea Evans is 2nd in the A-10 in caused turnovers (2.13 per game) and 8th in ground balls (2.25 per game).
• Emily King ranks 8th in the A-10 in caused turnovers (1.43 per game), giving Duquesne three players in the top eight.
• Pawela and Evans are the only two A-10 players this season with at least five caused turnovers in multiple games.

SCOUTING VCU

• VCU has won two straight A-10 matchups (16-7 vs. George Washington and 12-7 at George Mason) after opening conference play with a home loss to UMass (18-12).
• The Rams are 2-2 on the road this season.
• Last season, VCU was 5-13 overall with a 4-5 A-10 mark earning a spot in the A-10 tournament, falling to Saint Joseph's (16-12) in the opening round.
• VCU owns the top free position percentage in the A-10 at 54.5% (11th-best in DI) ... Casey Murray is the A-10 ground ball leader at 3.67 per game.
• Last Game: Rachel Koeneke scored a game-high five goals and Sarah Jones became VCU's all-time career leader in draw controls in VCU's win over the Revolutionaries.

PAWELA PRESTIGE

• Hanna Pawela has four games of 4+ ground balls, five outings with 3+ caused turnovers and tallied a career-high 8 draw controls vs. SFU in a strong start to her senior season.
• Pawela earned A-10 Defensive Player of the Week for the third time in her career and first this season after posting 6 CT (the most in a game by an A-10 player this season), 4 GB and 1 DC in the George Washington win.
• Pawela is just the second Duke ever to record over 130 career caused turnovers ... Her 135 career total is the most among all active Division I players.
  • Megan Hungate (1998-01) is DU's record holder with 178 CTs in her career.
• With 146 career ground balls, Pawela is 13 away from ranking in the top-five all-time at DU ... Her ground ball total ranks fourth-most among active Division I players.

STAT STANDOUTS

• Mackenzie Leszczynski ranks in the top 10 of the A-10 in six stat categories, including free position percentage (62.5% - 2nd), points per game (4.00 - 6th), assists per game (1.63 - 7th), assists (13 - 8th), free position goals per game (0.63 - 8th) and draw controls per game (3.38 - 9th).
  • Leszczynski owns 189 career draw controls rank third all-time at DU, just 9 away from second.
  • An assist at La Salle tied her for 10th in career assists at Duquesne (now with 44).
  • She is six goals (has 122) away from breaking into DU's top 10 all-time.
• Gracin Emerson also owns 13 assists this season, tied for 8th in the A-10 and 7th in assists per game.
  • Emerson posted a career-high five assists in the season-opening win at Akron - tied for second-most in a game by an A-10 player this season.

ONE-SCORE GAMES

• The Dukes have already had four games decided by one goal.
• Duquesne is 3-1 in one-goal contests with wins at Akron (12-11 OT), at Youngstown State (12-11) and vs. George Washington (11-10).
• Mackenzie Leszczynski has scored two of the three game-winners with the OT goal at Akron and the put-back winner last time out vs. GW ... Corinne Webb notched the winner at YSU with 3:45 to play.

THAT'S OUR COACH

• First year Duquesne head coach Tracy Coyne ranks seventh among active Division I coaches with 327 career wins.
• A Pittsburgh native, Coyne spent the last five seasons at Saint Francis, becoming the all-time wins leader and leading the Red Flash to their first two NEC Tournament appearances ... Coyne was the George Washington head coach from 2015-19.
• Her career includes 15 years at Notre Dame as the program's founding coach … Led the Irish to six NCAA Tournament appearances, a national semifinal in 2006 and a Big East title in 2009.

A-10 PRESEASON POLL

1. Richmond - 118 (8 first place votes)
2. Massachusetts - 112 (3)
3. Saint Joseph's - 98
4. Davidson - 89
5. VCU - 68
6. St. Bonaventure - 64
7. George Mason - 60
8. George Washington - 41
9. Duquesne - 35
10. La Salle - 22
11. Rhode Island - 19

UP NEXT
Duquesne hosts St. Bonaventure on Wednesday for another Atlantic 10 matchup at Rooney Field. Start time is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

FOLLOW THE DUKES
Follow Duquesne Lacrosse all season online at GoDuquesne.com, as well as on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@DuqLax).