La Plume, PA – A late comeback bid by Keystone College fell just short on Tuesday evening as Elmira College escaped a rain-soaked turf field in La Plume with a 2-1 victory in non-conference field hockey action.  The Soaring Eagles improve to 3-6 on the season while the Giants slip to 2-5 on the fall.
 
Elmira applied pressure early in Tuesday night's contest, taking six of the game's first shot, but Keystone goalie Amy Denmon (Beaumont, PA/Lake-Lehman) kept the Soaring Eagles of the scoreboard with some help from Adrienne Mellot (Boiling Springs, PA/Boiling Springs), who made a pair of defensive saves.  The Giants had a good chance of their own as Rebecca Dempster (Boonton, NJ/Boonton) broke free behind the Soaring Eagles' defense, but goalie Julie Hockenberger was their to keep the game scoreless.
 
Alli Gilbert broke the deadlock with just 1:45 remaining in the first half, picking up a loose ball in the circle and firing a shot from eight yards past Denmon and just inside the far post to give Elmira a 1-0 edge, a lead the Soaring Eagles took into halftime. 
 
The visitors held a 9-2 advantage in shots in the opening 35 minutes of play including an 8-2 edge in shots on target.  Elmira also had six penalty corners to one for Keystone in the period.
 
Dempster nearly equalized for the Giants nine and a half minutes into the second half, but her close-range shot went just wide of the left post.  Despite Keystone holding the better of play over the first 16 minutes of the second half, Elmira was able to double their lead with 19:01 remaining in regulation when Megan Brain tapped a shot into an empty net from close range with Gilbert picking up an assist on the goal.
 
Keystone battled right back into the game as Shelby Croasdale (Nicholson, PA/Lackawanna Trail) fired home her third goal of the season with 7:03 left in the second half from the top of the circle after taking a feed from Allison Berman (Wilkes-Barre, PA/E.L. Meyers) on a penalty corner.  Berman's assist marked the first point of her collegiate career.
 
The Giants pushed for the tying goal over the final seven minutes, but were unable to force overtime in an exciting finish as Keystone outshot Elmira 11-3 in the second half and 13-12 for the game.  Mikayla Rebusmen came up big in relief in goal for the Soaring Eagles, making seven second half saves to pick up the.  Cassidy Genco also added a defensive save for Elmira, who held a 9-6 edge in penalty corners for the game.  
 
Denmon turned aside six shots by the visitors in the loss while Mellot totaled three defensive saves in the game to bring her total to 13 on the season.
 
Keystone returns to the field on Saturday afternoon with a Colonial States Athletic Conference contest at Neumann University.  Game time is set for 12:00 p.m. in Aston, Pennsylvania.