Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – The Duquesne University women’s soccer team posted its first shutout of the 2024 season on Sunday, capping a doubleheader at Rooney Field with a 2-0 victory over Bowling Green. The win improved the Dukes’ overall record to 2-1 (.667).
FOCUS AREAS
A strong defensive performance was highlighted by Duquesne not allowing a single shot in the Falcons’ first 45 minutes. Meanwhile, the offensive performances during the early part of the season from junior forward Margey Brown Continuation. Classmates Lindsay Krafchick came down the right wing and played a perfect ball into the box, and Brown took advantage by pushing it past goalkeeper Madison Vukas at 18:05 to give the Dukes a 1-0 lead.
NO RESIDUE
The Falcons finally got a shot just over a minute into the second half, but Maddy Neundorfer blocked the shot as the senior recorded her first shutout of the 2024 season and the 11th of her career on the Bluff. Bowling Green (0-2) finished the second half with 12 shots, including five on goal, all of which Neundorfer blocked.
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“We came out, we had a game plan, the guys stuck to it and they played well,” said head coach Al-Alvine said. “Ultimately we scored the goals we needed. It’s our first clean sheet game of the season so we’re pleased with that, especially for Maddy. We’re scoring a lot of goals at the moment and that’s good but we’re equally proud of not conceding. To come out today and keep it clean sheet was a big achievement for us.”
MAGICAL MUIR
Duquesne kept the pressure on in the second half despite having fewer shots on goal in the second 45 minutes, and Junior Mackenzie Muir was able to give the Dukes some breathing room. She caught a loose ball from the scrum and scored her first goal of the season at the 67:32 mark to extend Duquesne’s lead to 2-0. It was Muir’s fifth career goal, but first since her rookie season in 2022. Muir’s last goal came on Oct. 23, 2022, at George Washington, and her strike on Sunday was the first goal of her career at Rooney Field, as each of her previous four goals came on the road.
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“Given the way we’re going this season, I think we’re on a pretty good path,” Alvine said. “Certainly there are a few things we need to refine, but I think we’re in a good position right now. The organization behind the scenes is good and the communication is getting better and better. We’ve spent a lot of time doing combination work and actually playing the game. Hopefully that will lead to more people getting involved in scoring, which is great to see.”
NOTES
Duquesne evened the all-time series with Bowling Green at 1-1 … Junior Eva LaVecchia played all 90 minutes for the Dukes to help stabilize the defense and is the only field player to play all 270 minutes in three games during the 2024 season … Despite not taking a single shot in the first half, the Falcons had more shots (12) than Duquesne (11) … BGSU also had a 5-4 edge in corner kicks … A total of 20 Dukes were used, including the sophomore Kayla Leseck played 70 minutes from the bench.
Next
Duquesne is off until Sunday, September 8, when it hosts Kent State at Rooney Field at 1 p.m. The contest serves as Senior Day for the Dukes.
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