King's Men's Soccer Hosts FDU-Florham in Freedom Conference Championship Game
Wilkes-Barre, Pa. – The King's College men's soccer team makes their first appearance in the Freedom Conference title game since 2007 when they host FDU-Florham Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. at McCarthy Stadium.
Tickets, as set by the Middle Atlantic Conferences Office, are set at $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2 for students, while children under age-six will be admitted free.
Fans unable to attend can follow LiveStats by clicking
HERE.
Click
HERE for directions to King's College's Betzler Athletic Complex.
The Monarchs advanced to the championship game by outlasting Misericordia 4-3 in penalty kicks after playing to a scoreless tie. FDU used a 1-0 upset of top-seeded Eastern to earn their spot in the title game.
King's finished the regular season 10-4-4 overall and 4-2-1 in Freedom Conference play earning the third seed. The Devils are seeded fourth finishing the regular season 10-7-1 overall and 4-3 in league play.
In the regular season matchup between the two teams the Devils came out on top with a 3-2 victory. Ryan Hurdes scored all three goals for FDU while the Monarchs got goals from
Niall Croke and
Eric Stanfield.
The Monarchs bring a balanced offensive attack with five different players reaching double-digit points.
Niall Croke has led the way with 15 points on five goals and five assists. Sophomore
Daniel Hernandez, and senior
Andrew Tuminello come in with six goals and two assists for 14 points.
Sophmore
Chris Nygren also adds 14 points on four goals and a team-high six helpers. Freshman
Cameron Rhodes has chipped in three goals and four assists for 10 points.
On the defensive end King's is stout allowing just 0.95 goals per game and holding opponents to just 8.9 shots per contest. The Monarch defense is paced by senior
Eric Stanfield, juniors
Mike Smart and
Kevin Hagmeier, freshman Phil Kistner and sophomore
Tyler Harlan who has missed six games with an injury. King's shut out of Misericordia was their eighth of the season.
Mark Labbadia has been solid in net posting a 0.69 goals against average and six shutouts. He made nine saves in the semifinal regulation and overtime and made two more diving stops in penalty kicks. Labbadia has benefitted from solid defensive play in front of him, only having to make 38 saves.
FDU is paced offensively by Hurdes who has netted 42 points on 19 goals and four assists including the game-winning goal in Wednesday's upset of Eastern. Igor Petrovic chips in five goals and seven helpers for 17 points. Andrew Ruane chips in 14 points on six goals and two assists, while Chaz Armand adds five goals and four assists for 14 points.
The Devils are allowing 1.84 goals per game and hold opponents to 12.2 shots per contest. Nick Mihalik has started 17 games in net boasting a 1.74 goals against average while making 76 saves and posting five shutouts.
The winner of this game will earn the Freedom Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The field will be announced on Monday.
