PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne lacrosse team's late comeback attempt fell short on Saturday in a 10-7 loss to Davidson in Atlantic 10 play.

The Dukes (5-6, 2-4 A-10) trailed 9-3 after three quarters but scored three straight goals to open the fourth, cutting the deficit to three. However, they could not pull any closer, despite outscoring the Wildcats (8-3, 4-1 A-10) 4-1 in the final period.

Mackenzie Leszczynski led Duquesne with two goals, bringing her career total to 128, which ties for 10th in program history.

Corinne Webb, Haley Reeck, Tristen Chang, Chelsea Evans, and Megan Marco each added a goal.

Webb found Marco to open Duquesne's fourth-quarter surge, followed by an unassisted goal from Leszczynski just over two minutes later. At the 8:09 mark, Reeck cut the deficit to 9-6, but that was as close as the Dukes would get.

The Dukes struck first with a free-position goal from Leszczynski one minute into the game. Davidson answered with four straight goals to take a lead it never relinquished. Chang scored just before the halftime horn on a long pass from Emily King after Hanna Pawela forced a turnover. Pawela finished with five ground balls — one shy of entering Duquesne's all-time top five — along with three draw controls and two caused turnovers. Freshman Averi Foster matched Pawela with a team-high three draw controls.

Freshman Kelsea Cooke recorded an early career-best three caused turnovers to lead the defensive effort.

Megan LaBorne played all 60 minutes in goal, tying her season high with nine saves.

UP NEXT
Duquesne travels to George Mason on Saturday for a noon matchup.

POSTGAME QUOTE

"I'm really pleased with how we started the game today. It is by far the best start we have had in an important game in a few weeks.

Our defense was fire today. Holding Davidson to two goals in the second half allowed us to make a run in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, we had a few costly turnovers on attack that held us back from being in a real position to win the game.

I'm excited about how the team responded to the challenges of today's game. They played with the heart of a champion.  Now we just need to back that mentality up and execute in tight moments during the game so we come out on top. We need to put it all together at the right moments," said head coach Tracy Coyne. 

FOLLOW THE DUKES
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