It’s been a busy week for Keystone and DC Furies. The teams played their make-up game on Saturday, and then faced off the very next day for their regularly scheduled Women’s Premier League match.

The quick turnaround was punishing on the body, but it did yield two wins for Keystone. The team won 55-8 in DC on Saturday, then followed with a 22-19 victory yesterday.

The latter match was a truly thrilling game. With their full squads now available, the teams duked it out in Philadelphia. The first 10 minutes of the game evolved without a score, until Keystone’s Michelle Kirk broke the silence with a try, 5-0. The teams traded tries throughout the first half, as DC’s Sara Shanley and Leanna Berger, and Keystone’s Rachel Hammond all scored tries. Only one of the five-pointers was converted, thanks to DC’s Kristin Guiliano, and gave the visitors a 12-10 lead into the half.

DC established the widest lead of the day when Julie Lau-Hogan scored in the 52^nd minute, and Guiliano notched another conversion, 19-10.

“Keystone was plagued by penalties, especially between minutes 20 - 60, making it very difficult to maintain good possession and giving the Furies much of their go-forward,” Keystone backs captain Devin Keller said. “Playing two matches against the same team on back to back days, and with the same referee, proved difficult, but Keystone pulled it together in the last 20 minutes, reducing penalties significantly and making sound decisions in attack - controlled, safe, slow ball.”

As Keystone entered the final quarter, the hosts needed two scores to overtake DC. And that’s what they go. At the 60^th minute mark, Alison Worman’s try pulled Keystone to within striking distance, 19-15, and then forwards captain Rashida Stamps’ try 12 minutes later gave the Pennsylvania team a one-point lead. Stacy Baker’s conversion was icing on the cake, 21-19.

The Furies threw everything they had at Keystone and threatened late into the game, but Keystone’s solid defensive scrums kept DC off the scoreboard.

"Obviously, we were all very disappointed that we didn’t win," DC coach Nancy Fitz said. "However, there were a lot of positives that we can take away. First, that was the best game by far that we played all season. We have had some good 40-minute halves but that’s the best 80 minutes of rugby that we’ve played. 

"Second, the players were really hungry for the ball and for a win, which led to a great intensity the whole game," Fitz added. "That’s the most points we’ve scored in a match all season. And all of this was in a game played less than 24 hours after a very mediocre performance in our “make up” match on Saturday. And we know that we can clean up some mistakes and make better decisions consistently, so we can play even better."