La Plume, Pa. – Keystone College's women's lacrosse team opened the 2016 season with a 17-6 victory over the College of Saint Elizabeth on Monday afternoon as the Giants recorded the first win in program history.  Emily Hawkins (Glenside, PA/Cheltenham) led the Giants with 11 points on seven goals and four assists while Aileen Yaeger (Medford, NY/Patchogue-Medford) and Nina Hodanich (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) recorded five points apiece.
 
Saint Elizabeth (0-1) opened the scoring just 1:08 into Monday's season opener, but Keystone (1-0) countered with the next four goals, including a pair from Hawkins and one apiece from Hodanich and Yaeger, to claim a 4-1 edge with 21:47 remaining in the first half.  The Eagles slowed the host's run with a goal at the 20:10 mark, but the Giants closed the half with an 8-0 run to hold a 12-2 lead at halftime.
 
Hawkins scored three times during the run, while Yaeger, Hodanich, Alex Smith (Wilkes-Barre, PA/James M. Coughlin), Destinee Hall (Spring Valley, NY/Paramus Catholic), and Kelly Smith (Honesdale, PA/Honesdale) all scored in the final 19:26 of the opening stanza with Valeria Lemus (Sag Harbor, NY/Pierson) assisting on the last goal of the half which gave Keystone a 10-goal lead.
 
The Eagles netted the first goal of the second half, but back to back goals from Hodanich and Hawkins gave Keystone a 14-3 lead with just over 22 minutes left in regulation.  After another goal by the visitors, Hawkins and Hodanich potted goals three minutes apart to give the Giants a 16-4 cushion with 13:32 showing on the clock.  Saint Elizabeth scored the next two goals before Hall capped the scoring with an unassisted goal with just over two minutes remaining.
 
Hodanich finished with four goals and one assists while Yaeger had two goals and a game-high three helpers. Hall was the fourth Keystone player with a multi-point game after tallying two goals in the win.
 
Hawkins added a game-high seven draw controls to go along with her seven goals and four assists while Hodanich added six draw controls.  Hawkins and Hall tied for a game-high with four caused turnovers apiece while Kayla Bain (Lancaster, PA/J.P. McCaskey) led all players with six groundball collections.
 
Amber Crews (Plainfield, NJ/Central Jersey College Prep ) made four saves to pick up the win in goal for Keystone while Saint Elizabeth netminder Maria Trujillo suffered the loss despite making 15 stops on the day.
 
Riley Hosey led Saint Elizabeth with three goals and an assist while Kassandra Ortiz netted two goals for the Eagles.
 
Keystone held a 39-14 advantage in shots for the game and won the groundball battle by a 29-17 margin.  The Giants also held the edge in draw controls, 15-10 while going a solid, 14-15 on clearing attempts.  The hosts committed 14 turnovers on the day compared to 27 by Saint Elizabeth. 
 
Keystone will open Colonial States Athletic Conference play next Tuesday afternoon against Neumann University.  Opening draw between the Giants and Knights is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in La Plume.