Rowan DuBois| staff writer |

Duquesne women’s soccer ended its three-match losing skid on Saturday in Philadelphia, taking down Atlantic 10 Conference opponent La Salle 1-0 off the back of a Hailey Longwell header in the 53rd minute.

The win comes after a 5-0 loss to Saint Louis, and improves the Dukes’ A-10 record to 3-4 (9-5 overall). Meanwhile, La Salle falls to 2-2-3 (7-3-5) in the conference.

The Dukes breakthrough came from a first-time Maya Matesa cross. Longwell elevated above the defender, nodding the header back toward the bottom-right corner. The Explorers goalkeeper Michela Auguadro got a hand to the shot, but wasn’t able to keep it out.

La Salle hit the woodwork three times in the first half, including twice from Olivia Vricella. Dukes goalkeeper Maddy Neundorfer tipped a volley from Vricella onto the crossbar in the 18th minute.

Neundorfer had seven first-half saves, 10 total for the match. Both teams ended the match with 13 shots, despite Duquesne being outshot 8-3 in the first 45 minutes.

La Salle dictated the tempo early, giving forward Ricshya Walker numerous chances to find the back of the net. One of those came from a bouncing through ball which Walker released a volley from, lobbing over Neundorfer, but hitting the crossbar.

Both teams had chances to score in the first half on counter attacks, the biggest for the Dukes fell to Paige Kuisis. She latched onto a header just outside the six-yard box, but flashed it over the La Salle net.

The Dukes’ goal came during their longest spell of possession, keeping hold of the ball in the Explorer defensive half for 15 minutes in the second half. Mackenzie Muir came close to scoring just moments before Longwell’s goal, as she wriggled free of a defender and found herself in open space, releasing a curler just wide-right of the goal.

Duquesne forced Auguadro to make six saves, four of which came after halftime.

After the goal, Duquesne was able to stifle the rhythm of the match, as the last 20 minutes were filled with a flurry of fouls and clearances. The match ended on a rushed Explorer free-kick just outside the Duquesne box. The wall of Duke defenders blocked the cross and cleared the ball while time expired.

Duquesne moves to sixth in the A-10 with the win and break a three-game losing streak. They next play Thursday night when they face VCU in Richmond, and its upcoming and final home match is on Oct. 24 against Saint Joseph’s.