OCTOBER 30, 2011

KING'S PLAYOFF BID TAKES A HIT AS MONARCHS FALL TO MANHATTANVILLE

WILKES-BARRE – The King's College men's soccer team saw its playoff chances take a hit as the Monarchs dropped a 4-0 decision to visiting Manhattanville College in an important Freedom Conference matchup Sunday at McCarthy Stadium.

King's, which entered the final game of the regular-season in third-place in the Freedom Conference standings, stands at 10-5-2 overall while slipping to 4-3 in the league standings. Manhattanville, meanwhile, improved to 15-3 and 6-1 in league games.

Misericordia, which trailed King's by a half-game entering the weekend, defeated Delaware Valley 4-0 and is not a half game ahead of the Monarchs with a 4-2-1 conference record. Eastern, which was also 3-2-1 entering the weekend, will play at Wilkes on Monday.

In order for King's to qualify for the Freedom Conference Tournament, the Monarchs need the Colonels (2-4 league) to defeat Eastern. If Eastern wins, King's will be officially eliminated from the tournament and Eastern will join DeSales, Manhattanville, and Misericordia as the tournament qualifiers.

Manhattanville took a 1-0 lead 9:47 in the game when Erick Olazabal scored off a rebounded shot. The margin grew to 2-0 on a King's own goal following a penalty corner at 19:19. The Valiants again scored following another corner when Eros Olazabal struck net following a head pass from Kyle Cassidy with 8:05 left in first half as Manhattanville took a 3-0 lead as the halftime break.

Eros Olazabal made it a 3-0 game when he bent a shot from the left wing inside the right post with 24:48 left in the contest.

Manhattanville outshot King's 13-4 and held a 8-1 advantage in penalty corners. Monarch goalie Mark Labbadia made four saves in the game.

The game also marked the final game for King's seniors Billy Elliott, Alex Martino, and Joey Bender. Bender concluded his career as the all-time leading scorer in King's history with 106 points on 38 goals and 30 assists, surpassing Cameron Audette, who scored 105 points from 2005-2008. Martino, who missed his rookie year with an injury, ends his collegiate career 33 points on 13 goals and seven assists. Elliott, a midfielder/defender during his King's career, will graduate with 23 points on 10 goals and three assists.