La Plume, Pa. – Trailing 5-3 with 6:33 remaining in the first half of Saturday afternoon's Colonial States Athletic Conference women's lacrosse game at Keystone College, Gwynedd Mercy University scored nine straight goals and held on for a 19-11 victory in a key conference showdown. The Griffins lift their record to 3-9 on the season and 3-3 in league play while the Giants drop to 3-6 this spring and 2-5 in the CSAC.
The two teams traded goals over the opening five and a half minutes of Saturday's contest before
Nina Hodanich (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) gave Keystone a 3-2 edge at the 21:27 mark of the first half. Gwynedd Mercy equalized with just over 20 minutes remaining in the opening stanza before Hodanich netted back-to-back goals to give the Giants a 5-3 edge at the 10:22 mark. The Griffins countered though by scoring five goals in the final 6:33 of the first half and four more in the first six and a half minutes of the second period to hold a 12-5 advantage with 23:35 remaining in regulation.
Keystone netted three of the game's next four goals as Hodanich,
Shatia Silas (Belleville, NJ/Belleville), and
Emily Hawkins (Glenside, PA/Cheltenham) each scored to bring the hosts to with five at 13-8 midway through the second half, but Gwynedd Mercy used a three-goal spurt to open up a 16-8 advantage.
Hawkins and Hodanich netted the game's next two tallies to bring the Giants to within six goals, but the Griffins sealed the win by scoring three of the game's final four goals in the final 3:15 of the contest.
Gwynedd Mercy's Carrie Kilgore scored six goals and added one assist, Danae Perrymond added four tallies and one helper, while Arianna Hensinger recorded three goals and one assist to lead the visitors, who also got a hat trick from Lauren Mitros. Bria Gillard made 12 saves to pick up the win in goal.
Hawkins recorded a game-high eight points on four goals and four assists to lead Keystone while Hodanich finished with six goals. Hodanich led the squad with five groundballs and four caused turnovers with Hawkins leading the way with four draw controls. Hawkins,
Kayla Bain (Lancaster, PA/J.P. McCaskey),
Brianna Nolen (Union Bridge, MD/Walkersville),
Alex Smith (Wilkes-Barre, PA/James M. Coughlin) chipped in with two groundballs apiece while Hodanich, Silas, and
Aileen Yaeger (Medford, NY/Patchogue-Medford) controlled a pair of draws each.
Katelyn Coon (Selden, NY/St. John the Baptist ) was charged with the loss in the host's cage despite turning in a 13-save effort.
Gwynedd Mercy outshot Keystone 41-29 for the game while holding a 18-16 edge in groundballs and a 20-11 advantage in draw controls.
Keystone will visit Centenary College on Tuesday for a crucial CSAC matchup starting at 4:00 p.m. in Hackettstown, New Jersey.
