Naomi Girson | staff writer |

The Duquesne women’s soccer team suffered a 2-1 loss against VCU in Richmond on Thursday. Unable to get a run of good results going, it is now 3-5-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference and 9-6-0 on the overall season. With two games to go, the Dukes are now on the outside looking in at the A-10 playoffs.

Duquesne came out of halftime tied at 1, hoping to grab at least a point with a draw, but Kanna Matsuhisa scored in the 65th minute for VCU, and the Dukes couldn’t equalize. They have now lost four of their last five and have been outscored 12-4 in those games.

The game started hot for both teams, with VCU and Duquesne getting shots on goal at the 2:10 and 4:57 marks, respectively. From there it resembled a tennis match, with both teams taking turns firing shots, leaving both with three failed attempts before 16 minutes had elapsed.

It began to go downhill for the Dukes when just shy of the 19-minute mark, the Rams took a corner kick. Shortly afterward, Greta Kraszula had the opportunity to sink a goal past the Duquesne defense, flying a curler right over goalkeeper Maddy Neundorfer’s head and into the bottom-right corner.

VCU didn’t immediately steal Duquesne’s thunder with the scoreboard advantage they held. Seven minutes after Kraszula’s kick, Margey Brown brought Duquesne back to level with a screamer into the top-left corner, her ninth goal of the season. Kayla Leseck was credited with the assist.

Brown now leads the team in goals, but part of Duquesne’s struggles in recent weeks has been her sudden scoring drought. She scored in Duquesne’s first six games of the season, but in the eight games after that she was held off the box score. When she scored on Thursday, it was her first goal since Sept. 12. Yet, she is only one of a handful of Duquesne women’s soccer players with nine goals in a season. She is tied for third in single-season goals in program history, sharing the achievement with three Duquesne alumna.

Despite the personal victory for Brown, her goal was the only time Duquesne was able to convert out of numerous missed attempts. The Dukes led the shot count with 19, followed by VCU’s nine.

The second half began with Duquesne leading possession, taking four shots in a row, none of them connecting. It would pay for missing those chances when Kanna Matsuhisa hit a bender past Neundorfer into the top-right corner. Y-Van Nguyen came through with the assist, swiping the unguarded ball and finding the space down the field, dancing around a Duquesne defender before slicing it over to Matsuhisa.

With less than 30 minutes left in the game, the Dukes attempted five more shots, only one of which was on target. Mackenzie Muir made an attempt at the bottom-left pocket, but the ball was blocked by VCU keeper Allison Karpovich.

Overall, the Dukes led in shots on goal, 6-5, but Karpovich let only one slip past the goal line. Neundorfer, in her 50th career start for Duquesne, made three saves.

Duquesne sits at 11th in the A-10, behind Davidson, Rhode Island and La Salle for the all-important eighth position. However, two wins in its last two games could see it finish with 15 points, which should be enough to participate in the postseason.

The Dukes will play their last home game of the season at Rooney Field on Thursday night against Saint Joseph’s, before traveling to Virginia for a Sunday afternoon game with George Mason that will close out the regular season.