Lacrosse fell to Duquesne in Saturday afternoon at home.
The Dukes (6-9, 3-5 A-10) emerged victorious in a 15–14 shootout, scoring five unanswered goals in the final 10 minutes of the game for their third consecutive win. The Colonials (4-12, 2-6 A-10) on the other hand dropped their fourth straight game.
Duquesne opened the scoring behind a goal from senior midfielder Alana Greene just more than two minutes into the game. About two minutes later, sophomore midfielder Phoebe Mullarkey responded for the Colonials, picking up a ground ball to put it past the Duquesne goalkeeper.
With 6:36 remaining in the first quarter, freshman midfielder Mackenzie Leszczynski wove through a mess of GW defenders and rattled the cage with her first goal of the game, forcing GW to take a timeout.
Duquesne finished the quarter off strong as senior attacker Tina St. Clair capitalized on a free position shot while the Dukes were man-up. Heading into the second quarter, Duquesne led 3–1.
Despite the early surge by the Dukes, the Colonials wasted no time getting back into the game. Senior attacker Maddy O’Brien halved the deficit on a fast break off an assist from freshman midfielder Emily Mowbray 49 seconds into the second frame.
But the Dukes responded with two quick strikes three minutes later to extend their lead to 5–2. The first came from another Piano goal, with an assist coming from freshman attacker Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw this time. The second came 31 seconds later in the form of a goal from freshman attacker Corrine Webb and an assist from sophomore attacker Emelie Curtis.
Duquesne continued to play disruptive defense, occupying the passing lanes and preventing GW from finding a rhythm offensively. But the Colonials excelled in transition, exemplified by a goal from senior attacker Sophia Watkinson off a quick feed by senior midfielder Kendall Lambert with 8:22 left in the half to put the score at 5–3.
Watkinson followed up with another goal less than two minutes later, courtesy of freshman attacker Everly Kessler, who recorded her first collegiate assist. Rodriguez-Shaw resolidified the Dukes’ lead 21 seconds later on a free-position shot to put Duquesne up 6–4 with 6:15 remaining in the first half.
But GW scored two goals in the next two minutes to tie the game for the first time since the first quarter. O’Brien nabbed her second goal of the day off a feed from Hampton before freshman midfielder Ashley Geyer got herself on the scoresheet with a goal of her own to bring the score to 6–6 with 4:42 remaining in the second quarter.
Freshman attacker Sam King scored a goal to give the Dukes a narrow 7–6 lead heading into halftime.
The Colonials came out of the break hot off a strong effort by Lambert. She scored two goals, including one where her facemask and headband were knocked off, but she still managed to finish.
Not to be outdone, King scored another goal for the Dukes before Watkinson completed her hat trick with an assist coming from junior attacker Katelyn Walker, giving GW their first lead of the day with 9:40 left in the third quarter.
Rodriguez-Shaw nabbed her own hat trick a few minutes later on a free position, tying the game at nine apiece.
GW pulled back ahead on a Walker goal in transition off an assist from Hampton before grabbing two more goals to bring the lead to 12-9. First, Mowbray capitalized on a Duquesne turnover, and then senior midfielder Alana Greene put an underhand shot through the legs of Duquesne sophomore goalkeeper Rachel O’Toole.
Leszczynski opened the scoring in the final stanza for the Dukes, but Greene countered for the Colonials off an assist from Hampton. Hampton finished the game with a career-high four assists.
Mullarkey drove toward the net and finished left-handed to give GW a 14-10 lead, their largest of the day, with 10:11 remaining in the game.
Unfortunately for the Colonials, it would be their final goal of the game.
Junior midfielder Jillian Caroselli received a pass from Piano and finished, cutting the Colonials lead to 14-11. The Dukes continued chiseling away despite the best efforts of GW senior goalkeeper Megan Patrick, who finished with 13 saves.
Once the Dukes found some momentum, they fed off the crowd energy and got goals from Leszczynski and Piano to bring the deficit to 14-13 with 6:42 left.
GW couldn’t take advantage of a Piano yellow card with 4:01 left and were denied by a clutch save by redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Mady Piersielak with 1:25 remaining.
Rodriguez-Shaw scored the equalizing goal with 40 seconds before the Dukes won the ensuing draw control and got the ball to King, who calmly slotted the winning goal past Patrick with an underhanded shot with only 25 seconds left in the game. After taking a timeout and winning the draw control, GW was unable to get a shot off before time expired.
The Colonials will look to end their season strong while celebrating Senior Day at home against VCU next Saturday at noon.
