La Plume, Pa. – Cedar Crest College scored 12 and a half minutes into Wednesday night's Colonial States Athletic Conference field hockey game at Keystone College and made it stand in a 1-0 victory.  The Falcons improve to 9-5 overall while the Giants drop to 5-9 this fall.  The two teams are now tied for fifth in the CSAC standings with 2-3 marks in league play.
 
An exciting first half was unable to produce a goal despite a number of good scoring chances at both ends of the field.  Keystone had the early advantage in play, but were unable were unable to beat Cedar Crest goalkeeper Emma Ryan, who made five stops in the first half.
 
The Falcons turned up the pressure in the latter portion of the opening stanza, but Emily Hawkins (Glenside, Pa./Cheltenham) made seven stops to keep the visitors off the board.  Cedar Crest also hit the post with a shot with nine and a half minutes remaining in the first half.
 
Daphne Leenas (Ringwood, N.J./Lakeland Regional) came up with a big defensive save for Keystone just under six minutes into the second half, but Cedar Crest would break through with the game's only goal in the 48^th minute as Annalise Unger scored one a one-time shot from the center of the goalmouth after taking a short pass from Hannah Gouck.
 
Keystone pushed back in search of an equalizer over the final 22 minutes, firing off five shots during that span, but was unable to force overtime.
 
Ryan earned the shutout win for the visitors by making five saves on the evening while Hawkins made a game-high nine stops for the Giants in the loss. 
 
Shelby Croasdale (Nicholson, Pa./Lackawanna Trail) and Savanna Robinson (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Coughlin) attempted four shots apiece to lead Keystone while Kayla Bain (Lancaster, Pa./J.P. McCaskey) was credited with three shots in the contest.
 
Cedar Crest finished the game with a 15-12 edge in shots including an 11-5 lead in shots on goal.  The Falcons also enjoyed a 15-7 advantage in penalty corners on the night.
 
The Giants will host Cabrini University on Saturday afternoon in a CSAC tilt starting at 4:00 p.m. in La Plume.