Jack Morgan | Staff Writer
Duquesne opened their 2024 season on Friday against Pittsburgh, and they learned early that it would not go according to plan. Jenna Hendrickson led the Panther offensive onslaught with a game-high four goals in a 20-2 route of Duquesne at Highmark Stadium.
Duquesne Head Coach Corinne Desrosiers didn’t mince words when describing how the game went.
“This was a disappointing start to the season,” Desrosiers said. “I think they all know it and can feel it and are aware of it.”
Hendrickson’s four goals all came in the second quarter in a span of less than 6 minutes. Her first goal came off of a free position shot with 11:59 remaining in the first half. She scored the next two unassisted and her fourth goal came off of a feed from Madigan Lublin. She was one of three Pitt players with a hat trick in the contest.
“Pitt came way hotter,” Desrosiers said. “They were way more confident. They moved the ball faster, and they weren’t afraid to make a play.”
In the first quarter, Pitt scored the first three goals of the game. Camdyn O’Donnell, Sydney Naylor and Kaitlyn Giandonato scored the goals, and the Dukes called timeout after Giandonato collected her first of two points in the game with 9:31 to go in the first quarter.
With 8:42 remaining in the first, Duquesne had a two-woman advantage for 1:57 but only got one shot off in that span. Duquesne found a way to get on the board with less than two minutes to go thanks to Corinne Webb. Webb made a swim move around Pitt defender Abby Thorne and dropped it past Panthers goalie Audrey Moran. The quarter ended with the Dukes trailing 3-1.
After Hendrickson put the Panthers up 9-1 with 6:09 to go in the second quarter, Maureen NcNierney and Sydney Taylor added to the lead with two goals in the final six minutes of the half to give the Oakland side an 11-1 lead heading into halftime.
Duquesne allowed 8 unanswered goals to end the first half, and they continued to look lost and without an answer to the offensive masterclass from the Panthers.
“By the end we weren’t a cohesive unit,” Desrosiers said. “And that’s how you’re going to get scored a lot on.”
For Duquesne, the second half did not go much better than the first half. They were outscored 4-1 in the third quarter. The lone Duquesne goal in the quarter came from Emma Raines. Raines positioned herself well in front of the net and scored off of the pass from Emelie Curtis.
However, that was one of very few bright spots for the red and blue. Desrosiers found another one after the game.
“The good part about this is, this has no weight on our season,” she said. “It doesn’t matter for conference; it doesn’t matter for playoffs. What this does is it really gives us a slap awake in what we thought we were capable of and what we thought we could do.
“We need to go back and actually just get more disciplined so we can work through this non-conference schedule before we play Richmond at home.”
Speaking of the non-conference schedule, the Dukes will play their home opener on Thursday as they take on the Eagles of Eastern Michigan at Rooney Field at 3.