WSOC extends unbeaten run to six with draw

Dylan Fister | Staff Photographer | Duquesne captain Jaimi Araujo battles for control of the ball in a game earlier this year.

Sean McKean | Staff Writer

On Saturday afternoon, the Duquesne women’s soccer team drew to Saint Joseph’s University in a scoreless game, bringing their record to 5-5-4.

Despite the game going without a goal for either side, aggression was still high.

Within the first six minutes, a shot had been taken by Saint Joseph’s, but it was skillfully blocked. Barely a minute later, the Dukes responded with a shot of their own from Libby Majka, but the Hawks kept the ball away from their net. The Dukes got another shot at the eight-minute mark by Majka once again. However, the shot swung high above the goal.

As more shots were taken, aggression went too high for Duquesne, and a yellow card was given to Eva LaVecchia. The aggression was understandable, since neither team had considerable control of the ball.

The Dukes kept the pressure on the Hawks, getting three shots within eight minutes by virtue of Jayden Sharpless, Maya Matesa and Brianna Moore. Due to great defense by Saint Joseph’s, however, these goals never materialized.

As the first half came to an end, the Dukes continued their aggressive pushes for the ball, and they again went a bit over the limit, with Margey Brown receiving a yellow card at the 33-minute mark. After these two cards, Saint Joseph’s got two shots on the goal, but ultimately never got the point, ending the first half scoreless.

The second half began with more of the same. The Dukes achieved a shot on goal at the 50-minute mark and the Hawks soon responded with a shot at the 52-minute mark.

However, that was the closest either team got to getting the edge over the opposition. Despite many more shots being taken at the goal on both sides, the game ended in a scoreless draw.

The draw extends the team’s unbeaten streak to six games. Their last loss came over a month ago, in that time they have gotten a pair of wins to go with four ties.

The last time the Dukes had an unbeaten run this long was a pair of six-game streaks in 2016 and 2017. A victory or tie in their next game would mark the longest such streak in program history.

They will have the chance to make history on Thursday at home against George Washington University.