Hackettstown, N.J. – Keystone College's women's lacrosse team kept its playoff hopes alive with a dramatic, 18-17 double overtime win over host Centenary College in a Colonial States Athletic Conference thriller on Tuesday afternoon. The Giants boost their record to 4-6 on the spring and 3-5 in conference play while the Cyclones slip to 5-8 overall and 4-3 in the CSAC.
Keystone currently sits in seventh place in the CSAC standings at 3-5 with one game remaining while Centenary and Gwynedd Mercy University occupy the final two playoff positions at 4-3 with two conference games remaining each. The Giants can earn a playoff berth by winning Saturday's regular season finale against Rosemont College if Centenary loses its final two games – at home against Cabrini College on Thursday and at Marywood University on Saturday – along with a Gwynedd Mercy win in one of its final two contests – at Neumann University on Thursday and at Cabrini on Saturday.
If Gwynedd Mercy and Centenary both lose their final two games and Keystone wins on Saturday, the final two playoff seeds would be determined by tie-breaking criteria beginning with goals against in conference play. A Centenary win in either of its final two games would eliminate the Giants, as would a Keystone loss to Rosemont on Saturday.
Tuesday's contest was tightly contest from start to finish with neither team holding a lead of greater than two goals. Keystone built a 4-2 lead over the opening 14:12 before Centenary scored four-straight goals to open up a 6-4 advantage with eight minutes remaining in the first half. The Giants countered with the game's next three goals to take a 7-6 lead, but the Cyclones scored twice in the final 2:46 to hold an 8-7 edge at halftime.
Emily Hawkins (Glenside, PA/Cheltenham) scored the first three goals of the second half to give Keystone a 10-8 lead, but Centenary netted two-straight to knot the score up at 10-apiece.
Shatia Silas (Belleville, NJ/Belleville) and Hawkins sandwiched goals around another marker for the Cyclones to give the Giants a 12-11 edge, but the hosts scored three straight goals to claim 14-12 lead with just under 19 minutes left in regulation.
Trailing 15-13, Keystone scored three straight goals to take a one-goal edge with 7:26 showing on the clock, but the two teams traded three goals down the stretch, the last coming from a Centenary stick with 2:43 remaining to send the game to overtime deadlocked at 17-17 as Keystone headed to extra time for the first time in program history.
The Giants outshot the Cyclones 4-1 in the first overtime period including one by Hawkins that it the post with 1:16 remaining, but neither team was able to find the back of the net. In the second overtime period,
Katelyn Coon (Selden, NY/St. John the Baptist ) came up with a huge save on a free-position shot by Centenary to set up
Destinee Hall (Spring Valley, NY/Paramus Catholic)'s game-winning goal which came with just 1:05 remaining in the frame.
Hawkins finished with a program-record 12 points on nine goals and three assists to power Keystone's attack on the day,
Nina Hodanich (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) had three goals and three assists, and Silas scored three goals for the Giants.
Alex Smith (Wilkes-Barre, PA/James M. Coughlin) and
Hannah Zuchowski (Wellsboro, PA/Wellsboro Area) also scored for the visitors, who got nine saves from Coon.
Hodanich led Keystone with eight groundballs while Coon and Smith picked up seven groundballs apiece.
Kayla Bain (Lancaster, PA/J.P. McCaskey) added five draw controls and three caused turnovers for the Giants, who held a 44-39 edge in shots for the game and a 40-32 advantage in groundballs.
Priscilla Ortiz and Abby Voelkner led Centenary with five goals and one assist apiece while Renee Hack made 15 saves in the Cyclones' cage.
Keystone's regular season finale against Rosemont will start at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night on the turf field in La Plume.
