Lauren Nejes & Noah Fries | staff writer & sports editor

The Duquesne women’s soccer team battled through two games last week, tying with Youngstown State 1-1 on the road Thursday before falling to Ohio University 2-1 at home Sunday.

The Senior Day matchup against Ohio marked the end of the nonconference slate for the Dukes.

“We have to flip the schedule and kind of start over,” Head Coach Jessica Giegucz said. “We have to totally reset right now because the first eight games of the season were all preparation. I think we just continue to make progress.

“Now we’re starting with a blank slate again and going forward with the continued belief that we are making progress.”

Entering the away matchup at Farmers National Bank Field, the Dukes held a 1-1-0 away record, looking to build momentum after a nonconference stretch that included a loss against West Virginia and a convincing victory over Cleveland State.

Duquesne set the tone early in the first half with an aggressive attacking play. Just 4:31 into the first half, freshman midfielder Claire Beasley found the back of the net — the first goal of her career — to put the Dukes ahead 1-0. Sophomore forward Brynn Ramsey fed a cross to Beasley after a hustle play from senior midfielder Kayla Leseck to help put the Dukes ahead.

Duquesne continued to push the tempo throughout the opening period, generating seven shots on goal to keep Youngstown State’s defense under constant pressure. The Penguins held their ground, however, matching the offensive energy with six shots of their own.

Goalkeeping would prove to be crucial in keeping the score tight through the first 45 minutes. Duquesne senior keeper Ali Hughes turned away three shots, while Youngstown State junior goalkeeper Kendall Sears recorded two saves to keep the deficit at a single goal heading into halftime.

The second half saw Duquesne ramp up their offensive intensity even further, utterly dominating possession and firing an impressive 18 shots toward the target. Despite the Dukes’ relentless pressure in the attacking third, Sears would continue to deliver an impressive performance in net for the Penguins, tallying seven saves in the second half alone to keep her team within striking distance.

The resilience paid off late in the match for the Penguins, who took a late offensive push. The charge was led by sophomore forward Ghita Haouzi, who struck the equalizer in the 88th minute. The Penguins managed eight shots in the second half, with Hughes making another three saves for the Dukes to prevent any further damage.

Despite outshooting the Penguins overall — logging a season-high 25 shots — and controlling much speed of the game, the late goal proved to be too much for the Dukes. The draw would take Duquesne to a 3-3-1 record on the year heading into the Senior Day matchup against Ohio.

In the Sunday afternoon matchup in the sweltering heat — weather that forced the officials to stop play at the midway point of each half for a hydration break — the Dukes felt like the dominant team for much of the game.

The Dukes would hold an early 8-1 lead in shots and would take a 9-5 shot advantage into halftime, but the Bobcats would take a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute on a goal from freshman forward Ava Bell.

Ohio would add a long goal from junior forward Sania Dearing in the 51st minute, but Duquesne would strike back just two minutes later with the first goal of freshman midfielder Molly Minsella’s career.

Leseck would match Minsella with two shots on frame, tying for the game high.

“She’s awesome,” Giegucz said of Minsella. “She’s got a lot of different ways that she helps the team. It was really nice to see it be her time to shine. It was a great header, and obviously a great ball from Brynn [Ramsey] as well. I’m really proud of Molly.”

The Dukes would have a number of chances late in the match to equalize — including a crossbar hit in the 82nd minute — but would be unsuccessful in doing so. Duquesne would have seven corner kicks in the second half alone but couldn’t get anything to hit the net off the set pieces.

Duquesne would win the shot battle 17-13 but fell behind the Bobcats in terms of shots on target (7-5). The Dukes would also hold a 62% to 38% advantage in possession but would be unable to capitalize on that extra possession time.

The loss would take the Dukes to 3-4-1 on the season, with a 2-2 record at home.

“We had a ton of quality opportunities,” Giegucz said, “especially in the first couple minutes of the game. We’ll learn from it, we’ll grow. I felt like we were dominant for the majority of the game in possession and attacking opportunities. We’re creating a lot, which is a very good positive right now.”

The Dukes will begin conference play in their next outing, taking on Rhode Island at 7 p.m. Saturday. Duquesne will look to build on its success from last season, when it would go 7-3 in conference play and reach the Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinals for the first time since 2023.

Lauren Nejes can be reached at nejesl@duq.edu

Noah Fries can be reached at friesn@duq.edu