Duquesne Lacrosse Displaying Growth Under Coyne

From the Duquesne Lacrosse Team’s breakfast to its walkthrough, there was a certain amount of calmness and confidence that set the tone for Saturday afternoon’s Atlantic 10 opener against George Washington.

It was a quiet campus with the students enjoying spring break. There were a couple of teams on campus, but for the Dukes it was imperative for the team to create its own noise.

To accomplish this, it came down to setting specific and attainable goals so there was a clear understand of how winning would be achieved.

Duquesne did just that with Mackenzie Leszczynski putting the ball in goal with 1:22 remaining in the game. Her teammates immediately surrounded her, understanding the enormity of this goal by the Atlantic 10’s leading point getter.

The 11-10 victory was followed by the entire sideline emptying in an all-out sprint towards freshman goalkeeper Megan LaBorne, an understanding of what it was able to accomplish, as it was Duquesne’s first victory to open conference play since the pandemic-shortened 2021 season.

“Obviously thrilled with the team today and our overall effort,” Duquesne coach Tracy Coyne stated. “They gave out that air that we’re going to go into it and give our best. I love how they handled some of the situations in game, there were different things that were happening, and we were aligned really well on our strategy and that led to the win.”

It is clear that Coyne, the program’s fifth coach in its history has made an impact, making a concerted effort to bring the most out of the entire roster.

Coyne is a Pittsburgh native and comes from Saint Francis where in five seasons she recorded the most overall and conference wins and ranks 17th overall in victories, 12th among active coaches.

It is her “win by one, win by 10, it doesn’t matter,” mantra which has served Duquesne well, as evidenced by three of its four victories coming by a single goal.

Coyne believes that each one-goal game allows her team to learn more about itself and that by playing the full 60 minutes there are ebbs and flows.

“Tracy’s awesome, she’s the best,” stated Leszczynski. “I’ve never felt so coached and understood by a coach honestly. I score, but this year I’ve had a lot of assists, and that’s something Tracy has helped me with. Contributing and finding ways to contribute. She’s a coach who really knows how to coach her players and she coaches each player really specifically and to their strengths. She’s really helped us come into our own and be really intentional about how we’re playing.”

Duquesne was a refreshed side having nine days between games. Coyne allowed everyone to refresh by having the weekend off, with much of the roster having the opportunity to head home.

Once everyone returned it was coming back to work and focusing on principles, specifically executing its scout against George Washington.

Ultimately early and after that scout was on full display, especially on the defensive end with the tone set early.

While, Duquesne lost the first three draw controls and the statistic overall, the defense was asked to rise to the occasion and consistently did throughout the afternoon.

“It was great to see the unit come together so well,” Coyne remarked. “We focused in practice on different aspects we wanted to improve on as well as GW’s strategy, so I think we did a good job of forcing low-percentage shots, causing some turnovers, coming up with key ground balls in the scrum area, but I think Meg got some good stops too. We played good all the way around and really well.”

Part of that unit is senior Hanna Pawela who had a game of four ground balls, one of which came on a draw control and a season-best six caused turnovers, enough to have her named Atlantic 10 Defender of the Week. Pawela’s defensive prowess moves her into second in program history with her 130 caused turnovers.

The freshmen class has also made some contributions throughout the season as seven have appeared in at least a game this season. Two had big impacts with midfielder Kelsea Cooke scoring her first goal of the season Saturday and another midfielder in Mia Piocquidio scoring her fourth. Piocquidio’s goal was crucial as it was Duquesne’s first of the game and started to turn momentum around.

“I think our freshmen class has really been instrumental to the team’s success both in practice and on the field,” observed Coyne. “Mia is very gritty, she’s a great hustler, has great speed, attacking instincts, so I was happy to see her have a great game today. That was a key goal that she had. Chelsea attacked the cage so hard on her goal that it was good to see the freshmen lift us up some.”

Tristen Chang earned her first start of the season, and the graduate student provided a boost with a hat trick, a career high.

Chang someone who was happy and appreciative just at the opportunity to start, showcased joy but a clear determination. Coyne explained that her being out on the field is earned and her approach is relaxed, yet confident.

The 11 goals Duquesne scored in the contest were by six different Dukes, a sign that the team can evenly distribute.

Ultimately the game came down to a position shot and a scouting note. One such note was that George Washington’s goalkeeper does allow rebounds, and Duquesne was instructed to be ready for that opportunity to arise.

Leszczynski and Coyne had a conversation Friday in practice and the former came away with confidence that translated into the game. Ultimately, Leszczynski wants to be the one called upon when pressure is on and it was her rebound of a Corinne Webb position shot which hit the post, that created the victory.

Coyne was thankful after the goal to have a timeout to center her team to win the most crucial draw of the game so the Dukes could possess the ball.

On paper, Duquesne defended home field on Saturday, but the way they did it, while showcasing growth are all optimistic signs which all Coyne could do was smile.

“We beat GW last year and we were still ranked below them by the A-10 and I think that’s a little ridiculous, so it was exciting to come out and show we deserved to be ranked above them,” Leszczynski concluded. “We won and did it without having to go to overtime. (We are) excited to be 1-0 in the A-10 and we knew this was an important game for tournament play.”

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