GAME 4
Cleveland State (1-2-1) vs. Duquesne (3-1-0)
Thursday, Sept. 4 | 7:00 p.m.
Rooney Field | Pittsburgh, Pa.

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From The Pitch

- The Duquesne University women's soccer team returns home after a two-game road trip to host Cleveland State Thursday in a 7:00 p.m. match at Rooney Field.

- The Dukes suffered their first loss of the 2025 season in their last outing, a 3-0 setback at West Virginia (8/28). Junior goalkeeper Ali Hughes registered a career-high six saves for Duquesne.

- Despite the loss to the Mountaineers, the Dukes enter play this week leading the Atlantic 10 in scoring offense (3.00 goals per game), a total that is tied for 20th in NCAA Division I with six other programs, including Darmouth (Ivy), Georgia (SEC), Georgia State (Sun Belt), Little Rock (Ohio Valley), Marshall (Sun Belt) and Virginia Tech (ACC).

- Senior forward Maya Matesa remains atop the NCAA Division I leaderboard in both goals (1.75) and points (3.50) per game, while her seven total goals is tied for second, trailing only Hope Leyba of Colorado, who has found the back of the net nine times.

- Duquesne opened its two-game road trip with a 6-0 victory at Mercyhurst (8/24), with senior forward Maya Matesa scoring each of the first three goals of the game to register a hat trick.

- Also scoring in the win over the Lakers was senior forward Brianna Moore, who picked up her second goal of the season, junior forward Kayla Leseck and senior forward Libby Majka.

- 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.

- Trailing, 2-0, entering the second half in their season opener at Kent State (8/17), the Dukes scored three times in the second 45 minutes for the victory, including two goals on a penalty kick separated by 46 seconds to grab the lead.

- 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 118-58-25 (.649).

- Duquesne returns 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 the Dukes from last year.

- The Dukes head back out on the road after hosting the Vikings, traveling to Bowling Green, Ohio, for a 1:00 p.m. match against Bowling Green Sunday, Sept. 7.

Scouting the Vikings – Located in Cleveland, Ohio … Member of the Horizon League … Has recorded an overall record of 1-2-1 (.375) entering Thursday's match … Cleveland State dropped its 2025 season opener at home to Kent State (8/14), 1-0, before earning a 2-0 win at Southern Indiana (8/17) … The Vikings fell at Bowling Green (8/21), 2-1, and are coming off a 1-1 draw at home against Saint Francis (8/28) … Senior midfielder Mayra Sesmas leads Cleveland State in scoring this season with three points thanks to a goal and an assist … Redshirt junior Hayleigh Lewis has started all four games in goal for the Vikings and has registered a 1.00 goals against average to go along with 23 saves … Named the fourth head coach in program history in 2024 is Mark Sappington (Wheeling Jesuit '11), who is in his second season at the helm of the Vikings … Sappington spent five seasons as an assistant coach under Duquesne head coach Jessica Giegucz at Slippery Rock from 2015 to 2019, culminating with the Rock claiming the 2019 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) regular season and tournament championships.

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 133 points thanks to 49 goals and 35 assists. Senior forward Maya Matesa is the program's active career leader for goals with 19, 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 44 goals and 23 assists. A member of the senior class for Duquesne was involved in each of the last nine 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 seven goals in the first four games of the year, has her climbing the ranks in the Duquesne record book. Having already matched her season high for goals (7) that she originally established as a sophomore in 2023, Matesa became the sixth player on the Bluff to eclipse the 40-point plateau, as she sits two points behind Erica Carey (2002-05) for fifth (46) and four points shy of Katie Schwager (2001-04) for fourth (48). Thanks to 19 goals over the last four seasons, Matesa ranks fourth in the Duquesne career record book. The school standard of 25 markers is owned by Katie O'Connor from 2015 to 2018.

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 four contests of the 2025 season, the Dukes have amassed 31 points thanks to 12 goals and seven 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 41 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.

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