La Plume, PA – Marywood University built a 3-0 lead in the first 11 minutes of Wednesday afternoon's Colonial States Athletic Conference field hockey showdown at Keystone College and never looked back on their way to a 6-2 victory.  The Pacers, who got four goals from Leanne McManus and two from Tori Jo Kakusian, improve to 8-6 on the season and 4-1 in conference play while the Giants slip to 4-8 overall and 3-2 in the CSAC.
 
Marywood staked out an early, 1-0 lead when Kakusian scored on a penalty stroke, beating Keystone goalie Amy Denmon (Beaumont, PA/Lake-Lehman) low to the left side of the cage.  The Pacers doubled their advantage just 1:12 later when McManus scored on a one-time shot after taking a crossing pass from Julie Kowalski.
 
Kakusian extended the visitor's lead to three goals in the 11^th minute, blasting home her second goal of the game from the top of the circle after taking a feed from Gabbie Bower on a penalty corner.  McManus pushed Marywood's advantage to 4-0 in the 25^th minute, scoring with her back to the goal from five yards out after taking a feed from Amelia Waibel.
 
McManus completed her hat-trick in the 31^st minute, knocking in a rebound of her own shot, but Justine Firmstone (Honesdale, PA/Honesdale) got Keystone on the board with 45 seconds remaining in the half by drilling home a shot from the top of the circle after taking a pass from Genesis Pacheco (Mount Pocono, PA/Pocono Mountain East) on a penalty corner to make it a 5-1 game at halftime.  The senior defender's goal was the first of her career while Pacheco's assist was her third of the season.
 
Marywood restored their five-goal cushion with 19 minutes remaining on McManus's fourth goal of the game.  Julie Kowalski played a long pass into the center of the circle to McManus, who laced home the Pacers' sixth goal of the afternoon.     
 
Keystone cut their deficit to 6-2 with 9:55 left on the clock as Pacheco netted her team-leading sixth goal of the season, tapping home a shot at the far post with Allison Berman (Wilkes-Barre, PA/E.L. Meyers) setting up the tally for her third assist of the fall to close out the scoring.  Pacheco now leads the Giants with 16 points on the season.
 
Nicole Merrill picked up the win in goal for Marywood after making five saves while Kakusian added a pair of defensive saves.  Kirsten Webb also had a defensive save for the Pacers, who outshot the hosts 22-14 for the game.
 
Denmon suffered the loss despite making 10 stops in Keystone's cage.  Firmstone added a pair of defensive saves and Kaitlyn Sawicki (Factoryville, PA/Lackawanna Trail) also had a defensive save for the Giants, who held a 13-5 advantage in penalty corners on the day.

Breanna Paulson (Mountain Top, PA/Crestwood) led the hosts with six shots in the contest including five attempts on goal in the setback.
 
Keystone will visit conference-leading Gwynedd Mercy University on Saturday afternoon in another important CSAC contest.  Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania.