La Plume, Pa. – Jessica Harrell scored with 1:14 remaining in regulation to lift visiting Neumann University to a 3-2 victory over Keystone College in Colonial States Athletic Conference field hockey action on Saturday afternoon. The Knights level their record at 5-5 on the season and improve to 1-2 in conference play with the dramatic win while the Giants slip to 3-5 this fall and 1-1 in the CSAC.
Neumann opened the scoring in the 22
nd minute of Saturday's contest when Chelsea Kulesza scored on a counterattack from three yards out with Becky Guinto assisting on the game's first goal.
Trailing 1-0, Keystone sent the game into halftime knotted at one-apiece when
Kayla Bain (Lancaster, Pa./J.P. McCaskey) scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season by finding the back of the cage with just 1:37 left on the clock.
Briana Sotiropoulos (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) assisted on the goal to pick up her first helper of the year.
Neumann went back in front with 11 minute in regulation when Julia Mustin one-timed home a deflection off of a blocked shot, but the Giants answered with 3:24 left in the second half to tie the game at 2-2. Bain fed
Breanna Paulson (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) out of a scrum where the senior knocked home her fourth goal of the year.
With overtime looming, Harrell provided the late-game heroics for the Knights, rushing in on a loose ball to fire home the game-winning goal from five yards out in the closing moments of regulation.
Caitlyn Johnson made a pair of saves to pick up the win in goal for Neumann.
Emily Hawkins (Glenside, PA/Cheltenham) made one save and yielded one goal in 21:44 of action while
Megan Novak (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Coughlin) made seven stops while conceding two goals in 48:16.
April Llewellyn (Plains, Pa./Coughlin) also picked up her second defensive save of the year for the Giants.
Neumann held a 22-12 advantage in shots for the game along with a 12-4 lead in shots on goal. The Knights held a narrow, 10-7 edge in penalty corners for the contest.
Keystone will travel to FDU-Florham on Wednesday evening for a non-conference game starting at 7:00 p.m. in Madison, New Jersey.