Pitt
1-0
Duquesne
0-1
Panthers Defeat Duquesne to Kickoff 2023 Campaign
2/11/2023 3:30:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
"We are really excited to get our first win," said Head Coach Emily Boissonneault after the game. "This game meant a lot to us. A lot of firsts: first time starters, first goals, first saves. It was really important to get those jitters out of the way. We are really excited about the win and looking forward to the next steps and closing the gaps and holes we saw today."
Pitt opened the scoring in the first quarter with a goal by transfer Camdyn O'Donnell at the 11:29 mark. Duquesne responded less than a minute and a half later off of a free position attempt by Mackenzie Leszczynski that beat goalie Hannah Van Middelem high over her left shoulder.
The next six minutes though belonged to the team in blue and gold. Sophomore Sydney Naylor scored back to back goals including one after a spin move that left her defender lost and the other from the free position. O'Donnell put her second of the game in the net at the 6:42 mark to bring the lead to 4-1 in favor of the Panthers. Emily Coughlin followed up with a goal of her own from a Molly Carter assist and Jill Fenech finished off the five nothing run with her first career goal.
The Dukes did get a second goal in the opening fifteen minutes, Leszczynski's second, but sophomore Panther Maeve Murray ripped a shot from an O'Donnell pass a minute later to bring the first quarter score to a 7-2 lead.
The second period saw more of the same with the Panthers dominating possession of the draw and capitalizing on those opportunities. Duquesne scored the first and last goals of the second, but Pitt put five past the goalie in between from five different goal scorers. Ava Washington, Dylana Williams, Molly Carter and Madigan Lublin scored their first goals and O'Donnell recorded her first Panther hat trick.
Leading 12-4 heading into the second half, the third quarter proved to be an offensive struggle for the Panthers and Duquesne responded with three goals of their own to close the gap to five.
Pitt opened the game back up in the final quarter by countering three more Duquesne goals with four of their own. Naylor matched O'Donnell's hat trick by scoring her third of the day with just over ten minutes remaining in the game. Murray and Coughlin each bagged their second goals which kept the game out of reach. Sophomore Talia Zuco scored her first of the game and the final Panther goal with five minutes left in the contest. Duquesne scored a tenth goal with less than a minute to go to make the final score 16-10 in favor of the Panthers.
"We felt like we gave up a few too many eight meters and too many one on goalie shots," Boissonneault continued after Saturday's victory. "We would like to close the gaps defensively and clean up our shooting a little bit. We look fast out there. We're running through our systems and are happy to see the team finding success through what we've been working on."
Pitt will hit the road for a New York road trip as they face Binghamton on Feb. 16 and Siena on Feb. 19.
