SWEET BRIAR, Va. – Keystone women's lacrosse team opened conference play Saturday morning with a back-and-forth battle against Sweet Briar College, but the Giants fell just short to the Vixens, 10-9, at Thayer Field.

Krista Strausser (Danville, Pa./Danville) led Keystone with four scores on the day, netting her last goal in the final seconds of the game to make it just a one-point deficit, but Sweet Briar's Trista Cleaves won the ensuing draw control to run out the clock for the win.

The Vixens started the game hot, jumping out to a 4-0 lead before Strausser scored back-to-back goals to begin the back-and-forth scoring affair.

The Giants came within one goal of tying the game four separate times before the Vixens took an extended three-point lead early in the final quarter on Sarah Southard's lone score on the day. Both teams were held scoreless through nearly the final eight and a half minutes until Strausser's waning-clock goal in an extra-man opportunity to get to the final arithmetic.

Keystone fell to 0-7 overall and 0-1 in Colonial States Athletic Conference play while Sweet Briar improved to 4-3 (1-0 CSAC).

Outstanding Performers

• Maria Tomada (Buenos Aires, Argentina/San Vicente de Paul) returned to game-action after missing the last three games and netted a hat trick while picking up a game-high 11 ground balls and a team-leading five caused turnovers.
• Strausser also had four ground balls and won 13 draw controls.
• Alex Williams (Elkton, Md./The Tome School) and Makayla Batts (New Oxford, Pa./New Oxford) also chipped in a goal apiece — both on free-position attempts. It was Batts' first score on the season.
• Zerah Chase led Sweet Briar with four scores and two assists. Southard followed with a goal and four assists for five total points to go along with five ground balls and four caused turnovers.

Inside The Box Score

• Each of the Giants' nine goals were credited as unassisted while the Vixens assisted on eight of their 10 scores.
• Both teams were nearly even statistically with Sweet Briar holding a 20-17 shots-on-goal advantage as well as edging Keystone in ground balls (31-29) and caused turnovers (16-14). The Giants won more draw controls at a 13-11 clip.
• Keystone goalkeeper Hannah Osbahr (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) had 10 saves while Sweet Briar's Kat Navarro made eight.

What's Next

• Keystone will host Notre Dame of Maryland (2-3 overall) next Saturday, April 9 at 1 p.m. at the Turf Field Athletic Complex.
• Sweet Briar will play at Bryn Athyn (1-2 overall) on April 6.