GAME 5
Duquesne (4-1-0) at Bowling Green (4-1-1)
Sunday, Sept. 7 | 1:00 p.m.
Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio

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From The Pitch

- The Duquesne University women's soccer team heads to Bowling Green, Ohio, to continue its 2025 non-conference slate Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. match against Bowling Green at Cochrane Stadium.

- In their last outing, the Dukes earned a 4-1 victory over Cleveland State (9/4) at Rooney Field. 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 against the Vikings were the first at the NCAA Division I level for each.

- For the second consecutive year the Dukes have scored at least 15 goals in their first five games of the year, as Duquesne owns 16 markers, a scoring average of 3.20 that not only tops the Atlantic 10 but is tied for 12th in NCAA Division I with Jacksonville (ASUN).

- Duquesne also sits 10th in NCAA Division I in shots per game (21.00) as well as 12th in shots on goal per contest (9.20) entering Sunday's match at Bowling Green.

- The Dukes suffered their first loss of the 2025 season in their last road game, a 3-0 setback at West Virginia (8/28). Junior goalkeeper Ali Hughes registered a career-high six saves for Duquesne, a total she matched in the win over Cleveland State (9/4).

- Senior forward Maya Matesa remains atop the NCAA Division I leaderboard in both goals (1.60) and points (3.40) per game, while her eight total goals is tied for second with Jordan Frederick of Tulsa and trails only Hope Leyba of Colorado, who has found the back of the net nine times.

- 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 119-58-25 (.651).

- 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 return to Rooney Field for their final non-conference home game of the 2025 season after taking on the Falcons, hosting Youngstown State Thursday, Sept. 11, at 7:00 p.m. in the Play of Moe Game.

Scouting the Falcons – Located in Bowling Green, Ohio … Member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) … Coming off a 2-1 victory at Robert Morris (9/4) to improve to 4-1-1 (.750) overall during the 2025 season … BGSU opened its 2025 season with a 1-0 win over Oakland (8/14) before falling by the same score at home to Illinois (8/17) … The Falcons are unbeaten in their last four games, including a 2-1 victory over Cleveland State (8/21) and a scoreless tie with Cincinnati (8/31) … A balanced scoring attack, Bowling Green has three players that lead the team in scoring with five points each thanks to a pair of goals and an assist, including junior forwards Ella Kane and Isabella Mazzaferro and graduate student Ellie Pool … Junior forward Emma Stransky has also scored a pair of goals for the Falcons … Mazzaferro notched the game-winning marker in the win over the Colonials … In his second season as the head coach at Bowling Green is Chris Fox (Messiah '09), who owns a mark of 11-8-5 (.563) with the Falcons … The all-time series between Bowling Green and Duquesne is tied, 1-1 (.500) … The Dukes earned a 2-0 triumph over the Falcons last season at Rooney Field (8/25/24), with former forward Margey Brown and senior forward Mackenzie Muir each scoring for the Dukes … In the last meeting in Bowling Green, the Falcons earned a 7-3 victory at Cochrane Field August 27, 2004, with Kristy Coppes netting six goals for BGSU in the season opener for both programs.

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 five 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 five 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 42 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 450 out of a possible 450 minutes.

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