AMHERST, Mass. – Bolstered by an elite second-half defensive effort, fouth-seeded Davidson (13-4) orchestrated a lethal rally during the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Women's Lacrosse Quarterfinals, clawing back from a six-goal deficit en route to a 10-7 defeat of No. 5 Duquesne on Thursday afternoon at Garber Field.
With the victory, the Wildcats move on to A-10 Women's Lacrosse Championship semifinals, battling undefeated top-seed Massachusetts at 11 a.m. ET on Friday, April 29. The contest will be broadcast live via ESPN+.
The Dukes began the contest with some real fire, keeping Davidson off the scoreboard for nearly the first 20 minutes while scoring six unanswered goals along the way. Once the 'Cats found the back of the net, however, their offense immediately sprang into action, scoring 10 of the final 11 goals for the match.
With 8:03 remaining in regulation, Davidson sophomore Julianne Casey finally knotted the matchup off a perfect feed from senior Gianna New; later, at the 2:21 mark, senior Emily Weld lifted the 'Cats to their first advantage of the contest, hitting the game-winning goal not long before Davidson powered in two more insurance scores down the final stretch.
Notably, the Davidson defense stepped up as well during their own offensive surge, completely shutting out Duquesne over the course of the final two quarters. A-10 All-Conference first team selection Amanda Monahan closed out the contest wtih seven saves, swiping six of those coming in the third period alone.
Offensively, senior Lauren Arkell along with Casey wrapped up the day with a hat trick each for the Wildcats while New tacked on two goals herself as well. For the Dukes, freshman Mackenzie Leszczynski paced the squad with two goals.