Matesa, Moore Led Duquesne to 4-2 Victory Over La Salle

PITTSBURGH -- Kaitlyn Killinger stood on the touchline, deep in the opponent's offensive territory. She quickly threw it in to Maya Matesa. Matesa, with a defender on her back, tapped it back to Brianna Moore. Moore collected the ball, took a few steps, saw no defenders stepping up and blasted a shot with her right foot 16 yards away from the goal. The ball sailed into the top left corner of the goal, narrowly avoiding the outstretched fingers of the goalkeeper just 47 seconds into the match. 

This goal was the first of the match and the fastest goal scored by Duquesne (12-5-1 overall, 7-3-0 Atlantic 10) to start a match since Caroline Lacy scored one in 38 seconds against Cleveland State on Sept. 23, 2012. 

Matesa and Moore led the Dukes to a 4-2 victory over La Salle (7-7-3, 4-4-2) in the last regular season Atlantic 10 match at Arthur J. Rooney Field on Sunday afternoon. 

Matesa led the scoring for both teams with a brace and an assist. 

"I'm proud of her," said head coach Jessica Giegucz, "mostly because the impact that she has happened because she was able to kind of change some of the ways that she's played in the past ... something that she's been able to take away this year was taking some of the coaching advice and learning from it, and that potential energy turned into kinetic energy this year." 

Maya Matesa(left) and Brianna Moore(right) charge down the field for a goal. Photo taken by Keira Kusmaul. 

The first of Matesa's goals came from a deep throw in, just like the first goal of the game. Kayla Leseck threw the ball in to Libby Majka, who tapped it right back. Leseck drove down to the endline, then dished it to Matesa, who turned, fought off two defenders, and used her right foot to bury it just under the crossbar in the top right corner. 

Her second goal was in the second half. Leseck headed the ball to Moore at midfield, who carried it up the left wing, before placing it perfectly in front of Matesa in the center. Matesa split two defenders and sniped it with her right foot past the goalkeeper to the bottom right corner. 

Mackenzie Muir scored a goal on a penalty kick, and Brianna Moore had an assist and a goal. Muir's penalty kick came after a blazing shot from Matesa, which bounced high off the crossbar. While battling Leseck for the rebound, Jillian Drumm committed the handball which ultimately led to the goal. 

Matesa and Moore have combined for 25 goals this season, with five of those being assisted by the other. 

"Me and Bri, we're like best friends," said Matesa. "Since freshman year, we've always just been like 'dumb' and 'dumber', together all the time." 

The Dukes led for most of the first half, with the Explorers' first goal coming with less than two minutes left. A cross from Justyce Hollenbach was punched away by goalkeeper Ali Hughes. The rebound rolled to Anna Corsanico, who bumped it out to Jaci Gismondi. Gismondi lofted a right-footed shot from 33 yards over the heads of the Duquesne defenders, most of whom had vacated the box, leaving a wide-open Kayden Williams to head it home. Williams also assisted on La Salle's lone goal in the second half, which was scored by Hollenbach. 

Hughes made 5 saves on 7 shots, while La Salle's Mackenna Yaracs made 0 saves on 4 shots. The Explorers attempted 17 shots to the Dukes' 12 shots. 

This game had significant playoff implications for both teams. Duquesne needed to win to clinch the No. 3 spot in the Atlantic 10 and a home playoff game, which will be played against No. 6 Fordham on Nov. 1 at 2:30pm. With the loss and the results of other games around the Atlantic 10, La Salle fell to No. 8 and will play No. 1 Dayton at Dayton on Oct. 31 at 7:00pm.