Tristan Huyett | staff writer

Duquesne lacrosse lost a pair of close games this week against Atlantic 10 Conference rivals George Mason and Saint Joseph’s. Despite battling hard in both contests, the Dukes ultimately saw their losing streak extend to six games.

In Saturday afternoon’s contest against George Mason in Virginia, both teams went back and forth in finding the back of the net. The Patriots got the scoring started with a pair of goals by Lauren Distad, who tallied four goals and an assist in the game and earned A-10 Player of the Week for her efforts.

After Distad’s initial onslaught, the Dukes responded with two goals of their own. The first came off the stick of Corinne Webb after a pass from Tristen Chang. Chang, who finished with 4 points total, would add a goal of her own to even the score at 2 with seven minutes to go in the first quarter.

After another pair of George Mason goals to end the quarter and a third to open the second quarter, the Dukes again found themselves trailing, this time by three, but again, the Dukes answered.

Mackenzie Leszczynski found the back of the net to cut the lead to 2. Then, despite back-to-back Patriot scores within a minute, the Dukes responded again with three unanswered goals in the half’s final 8:30 courtesy of Leszczynski, Haley Reek and Chang.

As the two teams went into the locker room, Duquesne found themselves trailing 7-6.

The second half, like the first, was tightly contested. Another Leszczynski goal tied the score at 7, which George Mason responded to with two scores of their own to close out the third quarter.

Leszczynski recorded her fourth goal and fifth point of the contest to bring the Dukes within one in the opening minute of the fourth, but a George Mason answer with 12 minutes remaining had the Dukes again trailing by 2, and the Dukes could not find the equalizer. Even though Gracin Emerson scored as the final minute ran off the clock, Duquesne fell to Mason 10-9.

Though her team ultimately fell short, Duquesne Head Coach Tracy Coyne was happy with the effort her team showed.

“I’m proud of the fight,” said Coyne, who is in her first season on the Bluff. “We just couldn’t finish plays when we needed to.”

After the tough loss, the Dukes returned to Rooney Field on Wednesday afternoon to take on Saint Joseph’s. The Hawks came out firing, as they were met with little resistance and frequently punctured the Dukes defense. Saint Joe’s found themselves leading 4-0 5 minutes into the contest.

Despite falling behind early again, the Dukes did not quit. Aided by loud support from the bench and a surprisingly lively crowd for a Wednesday during class time, Duquesne chipped away.

“I thought the bench was amazing today,” Coyne said. “It’s so great to have that energy. It’s the culture that we’re building, that we’re all in it together.”

Webb got the Dukes on the board with a free-position score and Emerson joined the party with a goal of her own to bring the Dukes within 2. Webb recorded four goals in the contest, tied for most on the Dukes with Leszczynski.

The Hawks scored three more times to close out the half, and with the Dukes adding one, Duquesne found itself trailing 7-3 after the first half.

In a mirror of the first half, the Hawks opened the second half with four unanswered scores. This time, however, the Dukes rallied and ripped off four consecutive of their own courtesy of a pair of Leszcynski scores and one apiece from Webb and Chelsea Evans.

With 11 minutes to go, the Dukes seemed to have the momentum and a chance to come back in a game in which they had trailed by as many as 8.

SJU’s Mady Yoder stopped the Dukes rally with a score to make it 12-7. The two teams then traded goals throughout the rest of the quarter, but the Dukes had several late turnovers that proved to be costly. A late Webb goal brought the Dukes to within 4, which would make the final 14-10 Saint Joseph’s.

Despite another loss, Coyne, while acknowledging her team’s shortcomings, remained positive on the outlook of her squad.

“We need to be a little bit calmer and more composed,” she noted, “but I like our attitude in terms of ‘we play to win and are unselfish.’”

With the two losses this week, Duquesne’s record sits at 5-8 and 2-6 in A-10 play.

The Dukes look to snap their six-game skid when they hit the road to take on Richmond on Saturday. A win there is Coyne’s goal as the season reaches its close.

“We want an upset win.”
 
Staff writer Tristan Huyett can be reached at huyettt@duq.edu.