PITTSBURGH, PA - On the road visiting the Duquesne Dukes for an Atlantic 10 conference match-up, the La Salle Explorers lacrosse team picked up its first conference win of the season, by defeating the Dukes 10-8 on Friday afternoon at Rooney Field.  The Explorers improve to 5-6 overall and 1-1 in the conference, while the Dukes drop to 7-3 overall and lose their opening A-10 game.

The Explorers opened the game against Duquesne with an impressive 6-0 start.  Freshman Maura Kenville began the run 4:40 into the contest off a pass from Kristen Davis.  Senior co-captain Kat Prokop was up next, dropping in the first of her three goals for the game at the 7:57 mark of the game.  Kenville followed with her second of the game on a free position shot at the 10:59 mark.

Sophomore Emily Bonczek capitalized on her free position shot with 17:28 to play in the half to record the first of two goals.  La Salle's next goal came by way of Catie Borneman who accepted a pass from Tiffany Grossi at the 15:27 mark and then Prokop capped off the 6-goal run with just over 10 minutes to play in the half.

The Dukes finally snapped La Salle's scoring run with 5:29 remaining in the half, as Kelly Mulford netted the first of her three goals in less than five minutes.  Mulford's goals closed the scoring gap to
6-3 going into the intermission.

Duquesne continued the second half as they finished the first, as Courtney Tamasitis dropped in back-to-back goals to get the Dukes to within one goal at 6-5.  Borneman halted the five-goal run 6:52 into the second half.  The teams were evenly matched for the rest of the game, and the Explorers were able to hold on for a 10-8 victory.

The Explorers claimed the victory despite being outshoot 37-24.  On the defensive end, La Salle also came up shot in ground balls, as the Dukes grabbed 26 to the Explorers' 14.  La Salle held the advantage in draw controls 12-9.

La Salle goalkeeper Chantelle McCormick controlled the net for 60 minutes, facing 37 shots and recording 17 saves.  Duquesne's Meredith Norris matched the 60 minutes at the other end of the field and faced 24 shots while recording six saves.

The Explorers will look to make it two in-a-row on Sunday when they continue their road trip at St. Bonaventure for an Atlantic 10 conference match-up at 12:00 p.m.