Duquesne rallies to secure home draw vs Davidson

The Duquesne Women’s Soccer Team scored a second-half goal overcoming an injury and an early deficit, to earn a 1-1 draw Sunday afternoon against Davidson at Rooney Field.

“We knew we didn’t execute our game plan in the first half,” captain Jaimi Araujo said. “We spoke again about our plan at halftime. Obviously losing Sarah (Wilkinson) in the first half was hard for us to adjust to, she’s just so good for us in the midfield, but I’m super proud of how we adjusted, and we were unlucky not to have two or three more goals in the second half.”

With Wilkinson’s injury, Araujo came from off the bench and dropped in to assist the midfield game and move the attack forward, something which had more success in the second half when adjustments were able to be made come halftime.

Before that stoppage, Sophia Caruso scored in the 29th minute for the Wildcats off a Hailey Braemer corner set piece, getting a head on the ball to find the back of the net.

Duquesne was able to find the equalizer as sophomore forward Emma Bundy tallied her first assist of the season after Araujo took a shot that hit the crossbar and went in the 46th minute.

This goal was Araujo’s fifth of the season, which is a season-high for the team and personal career high as well.

“Emma had been putting dangerous balls in the box all game,” said Araujo. “I saw that one of the center backs was occupied with Maya (Matesa), so I took my chance to split the center backs. The back defending Maya misread the ball and it came right to me. I had plenty of time to pick my head up and see where the goalie was. Never any doubt.”

Without Wilkinson, the midfield was able to adjust in the second half, with Ally Campanella, Mackenzie Muir, Libby Majka and Cami Taylor all making positive contributions.

“It was definitely good to see that the younger girls have consistently put in the work to help us get results,” Araujo said. “They should be super confident of how they’ve done so far this year. They’ve definitely raised the level of the team.”

Araujo had a legitimate chance to score another goal 110 seconds later, but this time the post proved unkind and denied Duquesne a second goal.

This draw leaves Duquesne tied for fourth place with this Davidson team and Massachusetts, with the team in that position at regular season’s end will host an Atlantic 10 Championship game.

“Last time we made the tournament was my freshman year as the 8-seed and we lost 5-0 at Saint Louis,” Araujo recalled. “For most of this roster, it’s their first experience with a chance at the playoffs. I’m so proud of how hard this team has worked to put into games what we have been working on in practice. We all fight for each other. I’m so excited for these last three regular season games because I have so much belief in this team.”

If the regular season ended at this juncture, the team currently in the eighth and final position in the Atlantic 10 Championship is one point behind Duquesne, meaning a lot remains to be determined with three contests remaining.

Duquesne will have a week in between games to prepare itself for this final push. Two of the games will be on the road, including next Sunday’s affair at Loyola Chicago.

All three of Duquesne’s remaining opponents are currently projected out of the conference tournament, though Araujo made clear that none of the trio will be underestimated.

“It was definitely nice to sort of get a break with only two Sunday games in a row heading into the last stretch before playoffs,” she said. “We were definitely disappointed not to get a win today, but we proved again that we can fight back when going down a goal. Now, it’s just about locking everything in and cleaning up our play.”

GAMEDAY INFO

Duquesne (5-5-2/3-2-2 A-10): Maddy Nuendorfer (GK), Ashley Rodriguez, Margey Brown, Lindsay Krafchick, Cami Taylor, Mackenzie Leeder, Emma Bundy, Eva LaVecchia, Mackenzie Muir, Sarah Wilkinson, Maya Matesa

Davidson (10-2-3/3-2-2 A-10): Riley Patton, Hannah Casey, Keeley Copper, Remi White, Rachael Schleicher, Charlotte Snead, Sophia Caruso, Hailey Braemer, Grace Voss, Cecie Bassett, Mary Grace Bunch (GK)

Goals: Sophia Caruso DAV 2nd 29′, Jaimi Araujo DUQ 5th 47′

Cards: Keeley Copper DAV 22′

Corners: DAV 6 DUQ 1

Shots: Duquesne 11 (3 on frame) Davidson 9 (3 on frame)