Duquesne women’s soccer dealt first home loss to Dayton, 2-1

Photo courtesy Duquesne women's soccer

Atlantic 10 Women’s Soccer 

FINAL: Dayton 2, Duquesne 1

Match Stats

Duquesne women’s soccer team suffered its first home loss of the 2024 season Sunday, dropping a 2-1 decision to Dayton at Rooney Field.

In concluding a three-game homestand, the Dukes dipped to 8-3 (.727) overall on the year, including 2-2 (.500) in the Atlantic 10.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

The Flyers struck twice in less than three minutes late in the first half in grabbing a 2-0 advantage at halftime. Opening the scoring at 41:13 was Kyra Karfonta, who took a cross from Maddie Bowman in front of the net and redirected it with her foot to the far left corner of the goal to give Dayton (9-3 | 3-1 Atlantic 10) a 1-0 edge.

#GOAL Kyra Karfonta‼️
Karfonta gets the Flyers on the board late in the first half on the helper from Maddie Bowman!#UDWSOC /// #GoFlyers pic.twitter.com/BsW4YIZvkd

— Dayton Women's Soccer (@DaytonWSoccer) September 29, 2024

The Flyers continued the pressure after the opening marker, with Noel Blain scoring at 44:06 with her conference-leading ninth goal of the campaign. Karfonta provided an outlet pass to Bre Mendoza, who found Blain down the left wing. Lifting a shot with her left foot, senior goalkeeper Maddy Neundorfer was able to graze it, but the ball found its way into the far right back corner of the net, giving Dayton a 2-0 lead.

#GOAL Noel Blain
The Flyers do it again with less than a minute left in the half to take a 2-0 lead into the break! Noel Blain scores her ninth goal of the season on the assist from Bre Mendoza.#UDWSOC // #GoFlyers pic.twitter.com/ZuQsKV1Ubo

— Dayton Women's Soccer (@DaytonWSoccer) September 29, 2024

For just the third time during the 2024 season the Dukes were outshot, with the Flyers owning an 18-10 cushion in the category Sunday, including a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal.

In search of its first goal of the contest after halftime and looking to cut its deficit in half, Duquesne was able to get on the board late.

Junior forward Maya Matesa found daylight in the midfield, and she was able to locate redshirt freshman Hailey Longwell on the right wing, who lifted a shot past Batoul Reda to help the Dukes close to within 2-1 at 84:03.

85' Hailey Longwell with a goal late in the second half!

DUQ 1 | DAYTON 2#GoDukes pic.twitter.com/jvJeOytalA

— Duquesne Women's Soccer (@DuqWSoccer) September 29, 2024

The goal set up a frenetic final five minutes, but Duquesne was unable to get a shot off in an attempt at the equalizer.

DUQ W MATCH NOTES 

• Neundorfer finished with four saves for the Dukes Sunday against the Flyers
• Junior forward Margey Brown recorded a pair of shots, both of which were on goal
• The goal from Longwell snapped a streak of 12 consecutive goals for Duquesne scored by a member of the junior class
• Matesa picked up the assist on Longwell’s marker, which was her fifth goal of the season
• Longwell is one of four Dukes that have scored at least 10 points this year and her five goals have come on just 10 shots on goal
• Duquesne was issued a pair of yellow cards in the final 10 minutes of play.

UP NEXT
Four of Duquesne’s final six matches of the 2024 regular season will come on the road, including three of its last four. The Dukes head to the Bronx, N.Y., Thursday, Oct. 3, for a 7:00 p.m. match against Fordham before returning home to host Saint Louis Sunday, Oct. 6, at 1:00 p.m. at Rooney Field.