Gabi Toohey scored one of her three goals and Kathrina DeMaio handed out one of her five assists in the opening minutes of the second half as the Susquehanna University Women's Lacrosse team cut the Scranton University lead to 8-6, but that was as close as the River Hawks would get as the Royals went on to post a 16-9 victory in the Landmark Conference contest Saturday afternoon at Sassafras Field in Selinsgrove.

The River Hawks (4-7 Overall, 2-4 Landmark) scored the first goal of the game when DeMaio netted a shot at the 27:05 mark before the Royals (9-6, 5-1) scored five unanswered goals to take a 5-1 advantage just less than halfway through the opening half.

With 15:10 remaining, Brooke Klair scored on a feed from DeMaio to scratch into the Scranton lead.

Scranton went on to score three more goals over the next eight minutes of play to gain momentum and build an 8-2 lead.

The River Hawks closed out the half strong and were able to bring themselves back into the game.

With 5:48 remaining in the first half, senior Caroline Rabiecki scored on another assist from DeMaio. Toohey followed that effort up with a goal at the 2:20 mark. Rabiecki notched another goal on a pass from Stephanie Dowling in the closing minute to trim the lead to 8-5 by halftime.

Toohey opened the second half with a goal on the pass from DeMaio to bring the River Hawks within two, but Scranton was able to extend their lead over the course of the second half to cement the 16-9 win.

Brooke Klair scored two of Susquehanna's final three goals while Toohey added one more as they each finished with three goals on the day.

Libby Dex made 13 saves in net and Mel Barracato led the team with four caused turnovers.

Prior to the game seniors Rabiecki, Brooke Burnett, Una Heinzerling and Anna Trapane were honored.

The River Hawks continue play at home at 6 p.m. Wednesday when Susquehanna hosts Marywood.