Duquesne Women’s Soccer Stays Perfect At Home Behind Muir’s PK

When Duquesne Women’s Soccer captain Mackenzie Muir lined up to take a penalty kick, she was greeted by taunts from Rhode Island goalkeeper Abigail McCarthy and that lit a fire under the junior midfielder.

Muir went bottom right, tying a personal best with her fourth goal of the season and turned back to McCarthy letting her know how she felt.

McCarthy earned a yellow card prior to the try as referee Ryan Slack verbally told her upon issuing the card that she needed to stop talking.

“As soon as she said those words to me, it was personal,” Muir determined. “There’s no way I’m letting this keeper get in my head. I’m nailing this in. Once I did, I may have said a couple of words after, but it was all good.”

68′ |@muirmackenzie1 coverts the PK and the Dukes take the lead!

DUQ 1 | URI 0 #GoDukes pic.twitter.com/SQjcdIIdUH

— Duquesne Women’s Soccer (@DuqWSoccer) September 27, 2024

 

Muir’s kick would be exactly what Duquesne needed as it was the difference in a 1-0 victory over Rhode Island Thursday night on Rooney Field.

“We knew coming in they were going to be a battle,” Duquesne interim head coach Dave Gray explained. “They’ve been very dangerous all year, especially their front two wingers have been explosive. Lauren MacDonald, the Pittsburgh kid on the left has been great for them. We had talked about trying to catch them in pockets and counter. I thought we did in the first half, just struggled with connections. We talked at halftime about keeping our feet moving more and not passing so stagnant. I thought we did a better job being more active when we got the ball in the attacking third in the second half.”

Duquesne’s victory makes it a perfect 6-0 on Rooney Field, getting to that mark for the first time in program history. The six wins are also the most the Dukes have had at Rooney Field since 2019.

“Our entire saying this season is that we don’t lose at home,” stated Muir.

In the first half, Duquesne was the more possessive side, but a stumbling block which has been a point of emphasis throughout the season reared its head as the final-third pass just was not connecting, limiting true scoring opportunities.

Ultimately, the Dukes were reminded to be patient and continuing building off the momentum it earned with Sunday’s victory over Davidson.

As a side, Muir noticed in the past road setbacks have resulted in slumps and at times downward trends, but this is not the past.

Instead, she believes Duquesne is hitting its stride and it has the record to prove it, its best through 10 games in program history.

Muir’s breakthrough came when fellow junior Margey Brown charged hard on her line in the 67th minute down the field and was fouled inside the box.

Earlier in the half, Brown had been whistled for two fouls, but instead of easing off the accelerator, she made the adjustment, had the proper angle and was rewarded for her effort.

“We talk about all of the time when Maya (Matesa) and Margey aren’t scoring goals, to be a pest,” revealed Gray. “Be hard to play against and both were really hard. Hailey (Longwell) too. Those up top were really tough to play against tonight and they never gave them a chance to settle in and do anything out of the back, so it was good.”

Maddy Neundorfer earned her fourth shutout of the season and in doing so moved into sole possession of third place in team history, amassing 14 total clean sheets for her Duquesne career.

Neundorfer trails Kyra Murphy and Kelly O’Neill who respectively totaled 25 and 21.

The senior netminder was most tested in the 78th minute on a Rams set piece where Neundorfer got a hand on the shot, which then deflected off the crossbar before being cleared out of the box.

“Maddy was fantastic for us tonight,” Gray explained. “Couple of big saves. The one in the first half that looked innocent at the near post might’ve been the best save she made all night, because that ball took a hop right at her feet. Not only did she make the save, but she kept it so no one could get another touch on it.”

Duquesne also had some potentially future Dukes at the game as members of Century United were in attendance and also alternated helping chase down and pass balls to respective players.

Nine different players across both teams are alumni in Duquesne’s Neundorfer, Anna Bundy, Zoe Fries, Ali Hughes, Lily Karsman, Mackenzie Leeder, Kayla and Skylar Leseck and Rhode Island’s Lauren MacDonald.

This octet took a group picture with the girls and then all of the Duquesne players signed a poster for them to take home.

“It was so cute and so fun,” said Muir. “If you inspire one little girl, then you’ve done your job. When I was younger, I had older girls to look up to and they changed my life, changed my soccer perspective. If we can do that for one player, it’s the best.”

Duquesne remains home to face Dayton Sunday at 1 p.m. The game is Duquesne’s first alumni event, where past players have been encouraged to show support and connect with the current team.

GAMEDAY INFORMATION

Duquesne starters (8-2-0/2-1-0 Atlantic 10)- Maddy Neundorfer (GK), Jayden Sharpless, Kayla Leseck, Margey Brown, Lindsay Krafchick, Mackenzie Leeder, Ally Campanella, Eva LaVecchia, Mackenzie Muir, Brianna Moore, Maya Matesa

Rhode Island starters (4-4-2/1-1-0 A-10)- Abigail McCarthy (GK), Allison Gilbert, Aida Name, Lauren MacDonald, Kaia Rice, Cristina Sallent, Sam Hagerty, Courtney Poon, Emma Kirkpatrick, Nicolette Scarduzio, Tierra Garniss

Goal– Mackenzie Muir DUQ (4th, 67′, PK)

Cautions– Abigail McCarthy URI 67′, Mackenzie Leeder DUQ 67′, Hailey Longwell DUQ 72′

Shots– Duquesne 13 (3 on frame) Rhode Island 9 (2 on frame)

Corners– Rhode Island 6 Duquesne 1