GAME 6
Youngstown State (1-6-0) vs. Duquesne (4-2-0)
Thursday, Sept. 11 | 7:00 p.m.
Rooney Field | Pittsburgh, Pa.

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From The Pitch

- The Duquesne University women's soccer team hosts its final non-conference home game of the 2025 season Thursday with a 7:00 p.m. match against Youngstown State at Rooney Field in its Play for Moe Game.

- The Dukes are 2-0 at home this season and in the two contests have outscored their opponents, 7-1.

- In their last outing, Duquesne dropped a 1-0 decision at Bowling Green (9/7). The lone goal of the contest came at 26:30, as Emma Stransky of the Falcons scored on a header. The Dukes owned a 16-6 advantage in shots in the contest, including 4-2 in shots on goal.

- In their last game at Rooney Field, Duquesne earned a 4-1 victory over Cleveland State (9/4). Senior forward Maya Matesa scored the lone goal in the first half to give the Dukes a 1-0 lead, while junior forward Kaitlyn Killinger found the back of the net for the first time on the Bluff to open the scoring in the second half in what turned out to be the game-winning goal.

- Also scoring in the victory over the Vikings was junior Paige Kuisis, who unleashed a rocket that found the back of the net at 59:47 and gave Duquesne a 4-0 cushion. The markers for both Killinger and Kuisis were the first at the NCAA Division I level for each.

- Despite a 1-0 loss at Bowling Green, Duquesne leads the Atlantic 10 in scoring offense (2.67) and points per game (6.67) as well as shots (20.17) and shots on goal (8.33) per contest. Among NCAA Division I leaders, the Dukes sit 10th in the country in shots per game and 27th in scoring offense.

- Senior forward Maya Matesa leads the Atlantic 10 in goals per game (1.33) and points per contest (2.83), with each per game average ranking second in NCAA Division I. Kennedy Horn of Arkansas State (Sun Belt) tops NCAA Division I in both categories with per game averages of 1.40 and 3.00, respectively.

- Matesa is tied for fifth in NCAA Division I in total points (17) with Naomi Clark of Oklahoma (SEC) while being tied for second with Jordan Frederick of Tulsa (American) in goals (8). Hope Leyba of Colorado out of the SEC leads the nation in goals with nine in seven games.

- Thanks to five goals in victories over Saint Francis (8/21) and at Mercyhurst (8/24), Matesa was named the Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week (8/25) for the second consecutive week to open the 2025 campaign. She is just the third member of the Dukes in school history to earn A-10 weekly honors twice in a season, including the second to earn Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week in consecutive weeks.

- The Dukes are led by head coach Jessica Giegucz, who is in her first year at the helm of the program after spending the last 10 years as the head coach at NCAA Division II Slippery Rock out of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).

- Giegucz was named the sixth head coach in program history at Duquesne Dec. 20, 2024. In 10 seasons leading the Rock, Giegucz compiled an overall record of 104-48-24 (.659). She began her coaching career in Ashland, Wisc., at NCAA Division III Northland College, where she posted a mark of 11-9-1 (.548) in 2014 prior to being tabbed the head coach at Slippery Rock.

- Duquesne's win at Mercyhurst (8/24) marked the 200th game for Jessica Giegucz as a head coach in stints at Northland College, Slippery Rock and Duquesne. In 12 seasons as a head coach, Giegucz owns an overall record of 119-59-25 (.648).

- The Dukes return five starters from a 2024 squad that finished with an overall record of 9-7-1 (.559), including a mark of 3-6-1 (.350) in the Atlantic 10. Included among that group of starters is four of the top six scorers for Duquesne from last year.

- The final non-conference game of the 2025 season comes on the road, as the Dukes will travel to Lexington, Ky., to take on Eastern Kentucky Sunday, Sept. 14, at 1:00 p.m. in a game that will played at Lexington Sporting Club.

Scouting the Penguins – Located in Youngstown, Ohio … Member of the Horizon League … Has notched a record of 1-6 (.143) through its first seven games … YSU opened its 2025 with a gauntlet of a three-game road trip, falling at Indiana (8/14), 6-1, at No. 25 Texas Tech (8/17), 4-1, and at Missouri (8/20), 5-0 … The Penguins earned a 3-0 home victory over St. Bonaventure (8/24) but have dropped three consecutive road matches to Kent State (8/28), St. John's (8/31) and Michigan (9/7) … Junior midfielder Camille Bultel leads Youngstown State in scoring with seven points thanks to three goals and an assist … Bultel owns five shots on goal among six shots … Included in one of the markers for Bultel is a successful penalty kick … In his first season as the head coach at Youngstown State is Rich Wall (Gardner-Webb '12), who was named the eighth head coach in program history Jan. 2, 2025 … Wall spent the last two seasons at Mercyhurst, helping the Lakers transition from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I … Wall was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Coach of the Year in 2023 and in seven years of head coaching experience overall owns a record of 56-54-10 (.508).

Head of the Class – The 11 student-athletes that make up the senior class for Duquesne in 2025 has put up some strong numbers since the beginning of the 2022 season, combining for 136 points thanks to 50 goals and 36 assists. Senior forward Maya Matesa is the program's active career leader for goals with 20, while senior forward Brianna Moore has tallied 16 career markers. Senior midfielder Mackenzie Muir, meanwhile, is the program's active career leader in assists with 13. Combined, that trio has racked up 45 goals and 24 assists. A member of the senior class for Duquesne was involved in nine consecutive goals scored by the Dukes dating to last season before junior forward Kayla Leseck gave the Dukes a 5-0 lead at Mercyhurst (8/24) with her second career goal at 59:49.

Moving On Up – The early offensive output for senior forward Maya Matesa, with eight goals in the first six games of the year, has her climbing the ranks in the Duquesne record book. Having already established a career high for goals in a season, Matesa became just the fourth player on the Bluff to reach 20 career goals thanks to her marker in a 4-1 win over Cleveland State (9/4), as she currently is tied for third in the Duquesne career record book with Erica Carey (2002-05). The school standard of 25 markers is owned by Katie O'Connor from 2015 to 2018. Matesa also ranks fifth in the career record book with 47 career points.

Back and Forth – Senior forward Mackenzie Muir notched each of her four goals last season on the home turf of Rooney Field. That's a stark contrast to her previous four career markers, which all came on the road during her rookie campaign in 2022. In the 2025 season opener, a 3-2 victory at Kent State (8/17), Muir tied the contest, 2-2, by converting on a penalty kick and in the process collected her first road goal since her freshman year. The Dukes also improved to 8-1 (.889) over the last four seasons when Muir finds the back of the net.

Light Up Night – During the 2024 season, Duquesne reached the 90-point plateau for just the seventh time in program history as well as the first time since 2016, when the Dukes scored 97 points. Duquesne finished last year with 93 points, while the school record for points in a season is 104, which came in 2004. Through the first six contests of the 2025 season, the Dukes have amassed 40 points thanks to 16 goals and eight assists.

Lineup Stalwart – Junior Jayden Sharpless has been a steady presence for the Dukes in the midfield over the last three seasons, as she is the only player in that stretch to have started all 43 games dating to the beginning of the 2023 campaign. Sharpless finished fifth for Duquesne last year in minutes played (1,298) and owns career totals of a goal and an assist on 45 shots, 18 of which have been on goal. Sharpless is also the only field player for the Dukes this season to have played 540 out of a possible 540 minutes.

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