Box Score PHILADELPHIA - La Salle's stifling defense held Duquesne scoreless during a two-woman-down situation and rookie goalkeeper
Gabby Antonelli shined between the pipes with 17 saves in a 10-9 upset win over the Atlantic 10 leading Dukes on Friday evening at McCarthy Stadium.
Antonelli's 17 saves included a point-blank stop at the horn to stop a potential game-tying goal and preserve the biggest win of the year for the squad.
Caitlyn Brostrand led a well-balanced scoring attack with two goals and two assists.
Toni Massetti and
Allee Ilgenfritz added two goals, while
Erin McCabe,
Katelyn Fay,
Kelly Furman and
Alanna Diffendal added a score each.
"Duquesne has the most balanced offense we've seen and we knew it was going to take a great defense effort to come up with the win," Head Coach Candace Taglianetti Bossell said. "All week we have been preparing for this team and it's awesome to be able to execute on a game plan and see the results in a W."
"We couldn't be prouder of the effort of the entire team and having three freshman step up in against a stellar opponent is awesome!" Taglianetti Bossell added.
Clare Hurley, Caitlin Prince and Haley Marafioti drained two goals each for the Dukes (11-2, 2-1 Atlantic 10), while the Explorers (7-5, 1-2 Atlantic 10) held A-10 leading goal-scorer Amanda Kidder to just one goal and one assist.
Massetti drained the game winner to break a 9-9 tie with 1:22 remaining in the contest, while the Explorers were playing two down thanks to late yellow cards. The goal came two seconds before the first of the two yellow cards were released.
The Explorers also overcame a 33-16 shot deficit, and limited the Dukes to a paltry 2-for-12 on free position shots.
Duquesne jumped out to a 5-2 lead midway through the first half, but that was the largest margin the Dukes would enjoy. Kidder scored her only goal at 26:30 to open the scoring.
Katelyn Fay got the goal back less than four minutes later, draining a free position shot.
Hurley and Marafioti scored back-to-back goals at 21:35 and 19:01 to put the Dukes up 3-1, before Brostrand found Ilgenfritz for a beautiful shot to cut the deficit to 3-2 at 18:12.
Kidder found Michelle Morris for the score less than a minute later and Hurley added a goal at 15:13 for the 5-2 Duquesne lead.
Massetti answered less than a minute later and McCabe took a pass from Diffendal to cut the Dukes' lead to 5-4 with 11:12 on the clock.
Prince scored at 8:26 to give the visitors a two-goal cushion but the Explorers clamped down to hold the Dukes scoreless for the remainder of the half. Ilgenfritz scored her second goal at 4:59 and Diffendal drained one at 1:33 for a 6-6 halftime score.
La Salle took its first lead of the game out of the halftime gate when Brostrand drained her first goal of the game just 41 seconds into the second half.
Marafioti and Morgan Matz added back-to-back goals at 28:14 and 26:43 to regain the lead for Duquesne at 8-7.
An Explorer timeout renewed the defensive energy and the Dukes would not score for over 11 minutes after that. Brostrand knotted the game at 8-8 with 16:47 on the clock.
Prince broke up the 11-minute scoreless streak at 15:30 to put the Dukes up 9-8, but that proved to be the final goal of the night for the visitors.
Furman scored a woman-up goal on a Brostrand assist at 11:27 to knot the game at 9-9.
McCabe picked up a yellow card with 3:20 on the clock but the Dukes did not manage a shot while the Explorers were down one player.
Katie Marasco then picked up a yellow card with 2:22 on the clock to put the Explorers at a two-player disadvantage. The Dukes got off two free position shots while the Explorers were down two, but Antonelli came up with both huge saves.
The Explorers survived two down, getting a player back with 1:20 remaining after Massetti drained her goal at 1:22. The Dukes won the ensuing draw control but turned the ball over. They got it back when Taylor Denk recorded a caused turnover and got the ball to Kidder. Kidder got a point-blank shot off with one second left with Antonelli snagging the save.
