PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Youngstown State women's lacrosse team scored 11 goals in the second half but couldn't complete a comeback against Duquesne in a 17-13 loss at Rooney Field on Thursday.
The Penguins fall to 0-3 on the season while the Dukes improve to 2-1.
Genna Cooke scored a second-half hat trick as the Penguins outscored Duquesne 11-8. Cooke scored her first career goal early in the third quarter and helped spearhead a comeback attempt. Cooke's three goals on just three total shots led the Penguins while both Jade Shearer and Ally Garrett found the back of the net twice, all in the second half. Shearer led the Penguins in assists and points as she gave a helping hand on three goals to add to her own two for five points.
Lena Cox, Ava Kreutzer, Grace Rund, Molly Sheridan, and Emma Hoffman each scored a single goal for the Penguins while Cooke, Cox, and Kreutzer each assisted on a Penguin goal.
Sheridan led the Penguins in caused turnovers, forcing three, and also added two ground balls and two draw controls to her impressive statline.
Kayla Stecker grabbed four ground balls on the day while Cooke and Rund each tallied four draw controls apiece to lead YSU.
Goalie Paige Borkowski matched her career high with 11 saves in goal, allowing 17 Duquesne scores for a .393 save percentage.Â
Corinne Webb led the Dukes' scoring effort with four goals while Jillian Caroselli, Lindsay Newton, and Emma Raines each found the back of the net three times apiece. Rachel O'Toole recorded the majority of the minutes in goal for the Dukes, making three saves and allowing eight goals for a .273 save percentage.
After entering the third quarter down 9-2, the Penguins caught fire right out of the gate in the second half when Cooke scored her first of three just a minute in. Shearer then made it two unanswered for the Penguins when her free position shot went past Dukes' goalie at the 12:09 mark of the third, making the score 9-4.
Duquesne went back into their first-half rhythm scoring three unanswered before Cooke and Shearer again combined for two in-a-row. First, Cooke delivered the score with a helping hand from Shearer before Shearer used a pass from Cox to put one between the legs of the goalkeeper with 5:29 remaining in the third to make the score 12-6.
The Penguins exchanged goals with the Dukes to close out the third with Rund scoring off a free-position attempt and Grottenthaler scoring her fifth of the season, this time off a pass from Shearer. YSU entered the fourth quarter down 15-8.
Youngstown State struck first in the final quarter when Kreutzer connected with Sheridan who fired the ball into the net at the 10:02 mark of the fourth to make the score 15-9.
Following Sheridan's goal, Duquesne found the back of the net for the final two times of the evening as YSU would close out the game scoring four unanswered goals in the final four minutes.
Garrett would score the first of the run with 4:31 remaining before Kreutzer fired a Shearer pass into the net just 25 seconds later to make the score 17-11. Garrett would score her second of the game just a few minutes later, again unassisted, to make the score 17-12 with 2:32 remaining. At the 2:04 mark, Cooke would complete her hat trick off a successful free-position attempt, making the final score 17-13.
In the first half, Duquesne opened the game with five straight goals before Cox found the back of the net for her fifth score of the season at the 3:19 mark of the first. Duquesne would score two more goals in the first period to make the score 7-1 headed into quarter two.Â
The second quarter would see the smallest amount of action from either team as Hoffman's first career goal off an assist from Cooke was sandwiched by two Duquesne goals, making the score 9-2 headed into halftime.
The Dukes outshot the Penguins 36-22 and won the draw control margin 19-14.
Youngstown State will play its second of three straight road games as they travel to face Cincinnati on Thursday at Nippert Stadium. First draw is set for 4 p.m.
