La Plume, PA – Defending Colonial States Athletic Conference champion Gwynedd Mercy University scored six first half goals on their way to a 7-0 victory over Keystone College in a conference field hockey game on Saturday on Keystone's turf field.  The Griffins, who got two goals from Brianna O'Connell and a goal and two assists from Melissa Russo, improve to 11-3 on the season and an unblemished, 4-0 in league play while the Giants see their record drop to 2-14 this fall and 1-4 in the CSAC.     

Prior to Saturday's Homecoming game, Keystone honored the team's two seniors, Raisha Piper (Hanover Twp., PA/Hanover Area), and Haley Nathanson (Bethel, CT/Immaculate).
 
Gwynedd Mercy got out to a fast start in Saturday's contest as O'Connell deflected a feed from Katie O'Neill into the roof of Keystone's cage to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage just 1:53.  The Griffins scored a pair of goals separated by 1:21 to stretch their lead to 3-0.  O'Connell netted the game's second goal by tapping in a crossing pass from Melissa Russo before Megan Senkeleski scored in the 13^th minute by ripping home a shot from the top of the circle with Brittany Wilson assisting on the tally.
 
Gwynedd Mercy pushed their lead to four goals on an unassisted goal by Russo in the 19^th minute before tacking on two more goals to take a 6-0 lead into halftime.  O'Neill tipped in a shot from Senkeleski in the 25^th minute for her second goal of the game before Bacho scored in the 29^th minute with a defected shot off a feed from Russo.
 
Breanna Paulson (Mountain Top, PA/Crestwood) nearly got Keystone on the board late in the first half, but Gwynedd Mercy goalkeeper made a pair of saves from close range to preserve the shutout heading into halftime.
 
In the second half, the Giants withstood continued pressure from the Griffins and got 12 saves in the half from relief goaltender Amy Denmon (Beaumont, PA/Lake-Lehman) in the period, who only conceded Brittany Wilson's unassisted goal in the 58^th minute which capped the scoring. 
 
For the game, Gwynedd Mercy held a 30-11 advantage in shots while generating 20 penalty corners to seven for Keystone.
 
Kruk finished the game with nine saves to post the shutout win for the Griffins.
 
Emily Hawkins (Glenside, PA/Cheltenham) suffered the loss in goal for Keystone after allowing five goals while making four stops in the opening 28:44 in the Giants cage while Hawkins yielded a pair of goals while finishing with a game-high 12 saves.
 
Adrienne Mellot (Boiling Springs, PA/Boiling Springs) and Justine Firmstone (Honesdale, PA/Honesdale) added defensive saves for the Giants, who were paced Paulson's four shot attempts.  Firmstone and Paulson both placed three shots on goal apiece
 
Keystone returns to action next Saturday at Notre Dame of Maryland University in a CSAC tilt scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. in Baltimore, Maryland.