Gwynedd Valley, PA – Keystone College held defending Colonial States Athletic Conference field hockey champion Gwynedd Mercy University scoreless in the first half of Saturday's league game, but the Griffins netted five second half goals to defeat the Giants 5-0.  Gwynedd Mercy improves to 10-5 on the season including a perfect, 6-0 mark in conference play while Keystone falls to 4-9 overall and 3-3 in the CSAC.
 
Keystone still controls its postseason fate as the Giants can clinch the fourth seed in the upcoming CSAC playoffs with a win in Thursday's regular season finale against Cedar Crest College.
 
Gwynedd Mercy controlled play in the first 35 minutes of Saturday's contest, outshooting Keystone 15-0 in the first half, but Giants' goalie Amy Denmon (Beaumont, PA/Lake-Lehman) kept the game scoreless by making 12 saves in the opening frame. 
 
The Griffins finally broke the deadlock 4:44 into the second half when Katie O'Neill scored an unassisted goal.  Melissa Russo doubled the host's lead in the 48^th minute as Maggie Walsh fed a pass in from the top of the arc where Russo beat Denmon from the middle of the goalmouth.
 
Abigail Gabriel tallied Gwynedd Mercy's third goal by putting home a rebound in the 60^th minute before adding her second goal of the game of a Brianna O'Connell assist in the 68^th minute.  Russo capped the scoring just 40 seconds later with her second marker of the afternoon which was set up by Megan Senkeleski.
 
The Griffins recorded 34 shots for the game and had 25 penalty corners while holding the Giants without a shot or a penalty corner opportunity.
 
Samantha Soscia was credited with the shutout win after playing the full 70 minutes in Gwynedd Mercy's cage while Denmon finished the day with 21 stops in a valiant effort in Keystone's net.  Adrienne Mellot (Boiling Springs, PA/Boiling Springs) and Justine Firmstone (Honesdale, PA/Honesdale) added a defensive save apiece in the loss.
 
Before Thursday pivotal regular season finale against Cedar Crest, Keystone will visit Drew University on Tuesday for a non-conference contest that will start at 4:00 p.m. in Madison, New Jersey.