PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Duquesne Dukes had more weapons at their disposal Sunday, and they put them all to use against Longwood.
 
Squaring off against an Atlantic 10 foe in the season opener, Longwood (0-1) struggled to match up with a Duquesne roster stocked with firepower and fell 22-9 Sunday afternoon at Rooney Field.
 
Duquesne junior Maddie Hart scored a game-high five goals to spark a high-volume attack from the Dukes (1-0) that generated 54 shots and produced goals from nine different players, including Hart's five and four from senior Megan Buettner.
 
That multi-headed offense proved too much to contain for the youthful Lancers, whose opening-day starting lineup featured a combined five freshmen and sophomores, as well as a new starting goalkeeper in junior Laura O'Toole.
 
"Today was certainly a challenging start against a strong and aggressive team with a lot of weapons," said Longwood head coach Elaine Jones. "We were only able to string together small runs throughout the game, and we shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers way too many times. Laura turned in a nice effort as she came up with save after save, but we were never able to consistently build on that momentum."
 
O'Toole faced the onslaught with poise and recorded a career-high 18 saves, nearly doubling her career total of 11 she had entering the season. However, the Dukes struck early and often, building a 10-1 lead in the first 20 minutes before the Lancers righted the ship and fought Duquesne to a 12-8 differential the rest of the way.
 
"With this first game under our belt, we will use it as a learning experience," said junior captain Jordan Howard, who was one of seven new starters in the Longwood lineup Sunday. "We're looking forward to getting back to practice with the intent to polish mistakes and enhance what we executed well. We have a young team with a lot of talent, and we are looking forward to the next one."
 
Howard was one of Longwood's seven goal-scorers, netting her first career goal in the second half with 10:03 remaining on a pass from fellow junior Dana Joss. That strike was one of three in the final 10 minutes for the Lancers, who saw three freshmen – Jackie Bewick, Nicole Fordyce and Jade O'Connor – and sophomore Taylor Blenckstone all join Howard in scoring their first career goals in Sunday's opener.
 
Blenckstone, a sophomore who missed all of her freshman season while recovering from injury, made the most of her collegiate debut, leading the team with four points on two goals and a pair of assists. O'Connor joined her in scoring multiple goals, netting two, while the junior tandem of Joss and Preseason All-Big South attacker Kaitlin Luccarelli also added two assists apiece.
 
"I think the team battled hard throughout the game, which was nice to see, even if the final score does not reflect the effort. If we can cut down on our turnovers, shore up our defense and get more shots off, we will greatly improve our chances to win the next game."
 
That next game will also double as Longwood's home opener, as the Lancers host George Washington next Saturday, Feb. 16, at 1 p.m. The Colonials will be the second of three consecutive A-10 opponents Longwood will face to open the year, preceding the following Saturday's home matchup against George Mason on Feb. 23.
 
#GoWood