Brentaro Yamane | Staff Writer
Sept. 23, 2021
The Duquesne women’s soccer team fell in overtime against Massachusetts, 2-1, Sunday afternoon at Rooney Field, suffering a heartbreaking defeat to the Minutewomen in what was each team’s Atlantic 10 Conference opener.
Just over nine minutes into the overtime period, Massachusetts’ Mia Carazza had possession of the ball on the right side of the field, close to the net. She passed the ball toward the center of the goal in hopes that one of her teammates would receive the pass.
Duquesne’s Karley Steinher was there to interfere and head the pass attempt. Instead of the header going out of bounds, it went high in the air and behind Duquesne goalkeeper Megan Virgin into the net, helping Massachusetts secure the victory.
After losing their first two games of the season on the road against Penn State and Boston College, the Minutewomen have proceeded to either win or draw seven consecutive games.
The Dukes led at halftime, 1-0, after Emma Bundy scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season in the game’s third minute. The Dukes were able to preserve that lead for the duration of the first half.
Massachusetts got more second-half chances, outshooting Duquesne by an 8-5 mark in the second frame. While they were getting more chances to shoot the ball, they were also playing undisciplined. The Minutewomen committed eight fouls, compared to just two fouls committed by the Dukes.
At the start of the second half, Massachusetts’ Chandler Pedolzky was able to split in between Duquesne’s Bailey Farabaugh and Mackenzie Leeder to track down a long pass from teammate Karina Groff.
As Pedolzky gained possession of the ball and ran toward the net, Virgin dove in front of her to try to make the save, but Pedolzky was able to get around Virgin and shoot the ball into the empty net, evening the score in the game’s 50th mintue.
The goal was Pedolzky’s fourth of the season. She played a season-high 94 minutes in the win.
There was no scoring for the rest of second half, which ultimately forced the game into overtime. Shortly after, Duquesne’s self-inflicted error led directly to a Minutewomen victory.
For Massachusetts, the magic number against Duquesne seems to be two. During their current four-game winning streak against the Dukes, the Minutewomen have scored two goals in each victory.
Duquesne is now just 5-16-1 all-time against Massachusetts, having not defeated the Minutewomen since Oct. 22, 2015.
The Dukes will have a chance to respond and secure their first A-10 victory of the season when they take on Saint Louis this Thursday, Sept. 23, at Rooney Field.
In three meetings with Saint Louis during the spring campaign, the Dukes went winless, being outscored by the Billikens by a combined tally of 7-0.
Duquesne has not defeated Saint Louis since Sept. 24, 2017, having dropped five consecutive matchups against the Billikens.
After the meeting with Saint Louis, the road doesn’t get any easier for Duquesne.
Following Thursday’s home game, the Dukes are scheduled to play three of their next four games away from the confines of Rooney Field.
