By Natalie Fiorilli | The Duquesne Duke
The Duquesne women’s soccer team fell to the Cincinnati Bearcats at home Sunday afternoon with a final score of 3-2.
The Dukes played through heavy rain at the start, determined to overcome their overtime loss to UC Santa Barbara on Friday.
Freshman forward Katie O’Connor starred in the loss, recording a goal, an assist and two shots on goal.
Six minutes after her initial setup, O’Connor found another opportunity, beating the Bearcat’s goalie, and pushing the Dukes to a 2-0 lead.
She attributed her success to her team’s offensive chemistry on the field.
“Our counter attacks are really good, and the way we pressure and cover each other works really well,” O’Connor said.
Duquesne jumped to a quick start, finding its first goal about five minutes into the match. After finding an open lane against the Cincinnati defense, O’Connor fed the ball to sophomore midfielder Linnea Faccenda who tallied her first goal of the season.
Freshman goalie Kyra Murphy was able to maintain composure through Cincinnati’s relentless attempts to put one on the board.
“Making sure I’m relaxed (is important), because if I get worked up, they get worked up,” Murphy said.
Early in the second half, Cincinnati found the back of the net, making the score 2-1 with about 40 minutes remaining in the game.
The Bearcats pressed on against the Duquesne defense and were able to tie it up with only 18 minutes left. The second half saw the Dukes get outshot 6-2 and with 12 minutes left, Cincinnati found the back of the net for the game winner.
With their loss Sunday, the Dukes stand at an overall record of 4-3-0. Next weekend, the Red & Blue will hit the road to face Oakland Sept. 20 before returning home to take on the Bucknell Bison on Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. The Dukes will resume conference play against Richmond Oct. 1.
After an unsuccessful home stand this weekend, Coach Al Alvine looks to move forward and focus on the remainder of the season.
“We have a young team so this a part of the growing pains of the program trying to establish itself,” Alvine said. “We’ll focus on some things we need to work on, but I expect to win.”
