Dukes edge out Robert Morris in physical game

In one of the most physical games of the year the Duquesne women’s soccer team fought hard and defeated the Robert Morris Colonials 2-1 Sunday.

The Dukes improved their overall record to 2-3 while the Colonials fell to 0-5-1.

The Dukes applied pressure from the opening whistle, tallying 21 shots in the game. Consistently peppering the Colonials’ freshman goalie Chelsea De Jager with shots led to success. The Dukes forced De Jager to make 10 saves, but the two she didn’t make were the difference.

Junior midfielder Bridget Lynch fired a shot 10 minutes into the game that De Jager was able to stop, but could not hang on to. The rebound landed right on freshman midfielder, Caroline Lacy’s foot and she found the back of the net with ease.

The goal was the first of Lacy’s collegiate career.

“It felt good because it was my first goal, since I’m a freshman, and to put us up one-to-nothing, it was nice,” Lacy said.

In the 43rd minute a long ball forward came through and found open Colonial Ayana Davis in the middle of the box. The senior forward fired a shot that looked to be headed right at Duquesne sophomore goalie Devon Tabata. Tabata got a hand on the ball, but was unable to stop it from trickling through.

First year head coach Al Alvine fired up the Dukes during halftime.

“I just told them that we were playing better, we were creating better chances,” Alvine said. “It was just a question of sticking to the game plan and taking our chances when they came.”
With 13:59 left in the game the Dukes found the spark they were looking for. Junior forward Stephanie Colon took a corner kick from the left and played a perfect ball into the box. Sophomore midfielder Khali Hale promptly pounded it into the net.

Alvine was proud of the play.

“Stephanie had the assist from the corner. It was a great service,” Alvine said. “She had been getting the ball into some great areas, we just haven’t taken advantage of them. So, thankfully, today we were able to do it and it was the game winning goal ... We have taken so many corner kicks and for us to finally score on a set play, it was a goal that we had to have for this game and the kids were able to get it done.”
The Dukes knew they had to keep their energy up and finish strong, Hale explained.

“After we scored we knew that we had to drop back and defend more, but it definitely gave us a little bit more adrenaline and more push to work harder and win the ball off of the other team,” Hale said.

Alvine hopes that this victory will help the Dukes nail down a starting lineup.

“It is important that the kids develop a chemistry and develop a rhythm and right now the only areas that we need to really find consistency in are the play in those wide areas,” Alvine said. “Bridget is one of the kids that have really stood out playing there, but right up the spine of the team I think we are pretty set on who we think our best lineup is. So, really it is just about finding the right compliment of players in those wide areas.”
The Dukes prepare for a heated battle tonight at 7 p.m. They are on the road to face the Mountaineers at West Virginia.