Senior Day Photo GalleryLa Plume, PA – Keystone College clinched a berth in next week's Colonial States Athletic Conference field hockey playoffs with an 8-1 victory over Cedar Crest College on Thursday afternoon. The Giants, who end the regular season with a 5-10 overall record and a 4-3 mark in conference play, will be the #4 seed in the conference tournament and will play in a CSAC semifinal next Wednesday at top-seeded Gwynedd Mercy University.
Breanna Paulson (Mountain Top, PA/Crestwood) (3 goals) and
Rebecca Dempster (Boonton, NJ/Boonton) (2 goals, 2 assists) recorded six goals apiece to lead Keystone on Wednesday as the Giants secured their first postseason bid since 2012.
Prior to Thursday's regular season final, the Giants honored seniors
Justine Firmstone (Honesdale, PA/Honesdale),
Courtney Wood (Factoryville, PA/Lackawanna Trail),
Katie Thompson (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth Area),
Kaitlyn Sawicki (Factoryville, PA/Lackawanna Trail),
Adrienne Mellot (Boiling Springs, PA/Boiling Springs), and
Amy Denmon (Beaumont, PA/Lake-Lehman) for their contributions to the programs over the past four seasons.
Keystone's
Allison Berman (Wilkes-Barre, PA/E.L. Meyers) opened the scoring just 3:01 into Thursday contest by tapping in a shot at the back post off a pass from
Shelby Croasdale (Nicholson, PA/Lackawanna Trail). Paulson doubled the Giants' lead just over three minutes later by deflecting in shot by Croasdale before
Genesis Pacheco (Mount Pocono, PA/Pocono Mountain East) fired home her seventh goal of the season in the 8
th minute after taking a feed from Berman to make it a 3-0 game.
Cedar Crest (2-15, 1-6 CSAC) cut their deficit to 3-1 in the 19
th minute when Samantha VanBeers picked up a loose ball in the center of the circle following a penalty corner and scored with a shot to the left side of the cage to put the Falcons on the board.
Paulson restored Keystone's three-goal advantage in the 21
st minute by knocking home a shot from close range off a centering pass from Dempster before completing her hat-trick with her fifth goal of the season by punching home a rebound in the 25
th minute. Berman added her second goal of the day and fourth of the season in the 30
th minute to give the hosts a 6-1 lead that the Giants took into halftime.
Dempster put home a crossing pass from Pacheco for Keystone's seventh goal in the 42
nd before rounding out a hat trick of her own in the 47
th minute by scoring on another Pacheco assist for her seventh tally of the year to push the Giants' advantage to 8-1 to close out the scoring.
Denmon picked up her fifth win of the season in goal for Keystone, finishing the contest with three saves. Mellot added a pair of defensive saves to bring her total to 19 on the season while Firmstone also added her 13
th defensive save of the fall in the win.
Desiree Lewis finished the contest with eight saves in goal for Cedar Crest while Vivianna Samite added a pair of defensive saves for the Falcons.
The start time for next Wednesday's conference semifinal at Gwyenedd Mercy, the defending CSAC champion, is yet to be determined. #2 Cabrini College will host #3 Marywood University in Wednesday's other semifinal with the two winners meeting on Saturday for the CSAC championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
