FEBRUARY 22, 2013

KING'S MEN'S LAXERS OPENING 2013 CAMPAIGN SATURDAY AT HOME VS. NEUMANN

WILKES-BARRE — The King's College men's lacrosse team will open the 2013 season on Saturday when the Monarchs play host to Neumann University at 3:00 p.m. at McCarthy Stadium.

Fans can follow the game on LiveStats at:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/kings/mlax/scoreboard.aspx

King's head coach Andy Orlowski is optimistic about his teams chances in the 2013 campaign after the Monarchs concluded the 2012 season in second-place in the Freedom Conference standings while securing the program's first-ever post-season tournament berth. After a loss in the Freedom Conference Tournament semi-finals, King's finished the year with a 7-8 mark and return a host of players from last season's roster.

The Monarchs are led by senior midfielder Lenny Fox, the reigning Freedom Conference "Player of the Year".  A season ago Fox was a major factor on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field, totaling 26 points on 24 goals and two assists while snagging 32 ground balls.

Junior Kieran McMahn is also back after earning second-team all-conference honors last season. McMahon posted a team-high 33 points on 23 goals and 10 assists with 17 ground balls to earn a spot on the All-Freedom Conference second-team.

Sophomore attacker Kevin Sweeney also returns after earning Freedom Conference "Rookie of the Year" honors.  Last season Sweeney tallied 26 points on 15 goals and a team-hgh 11 assists while snaring 25 ground balls.

Junior attacker Mike O'Brien played in just 10 games last season and contributed 22 points on 13 goals and nine assists. Also back and expected to again be a prime contributor is junior midfielder Pat Bonnot who added 13 points on 11 goals and two assists and was a second-team all-conference selection. Other returning double-digit returning scorers include sophomore midfielders A.J. Bungert (12 points) and Billy McCullough (10 points/86 ground balls). 

Monarchs, however, are renowned for their defense, a unit which allowed only seven goals per-game while causing 130 turnovers in 2012.

Leading the defense are juniors Joe Massa, Ed Douse, and Jamie Downs, along with seniors Luke Beerman and team captain Malcolm Ford.  Massa and Dowse were both second-team All-Freedom picks in 2012.

In goal, junior Brendan McCrudden is the returning starter but is being pushed by sophomore William Pokorny. Last season McCrudden played the vast majority of games, totaling nearly 900 minutes in goal. He posted a 7.10 goals against average with 127 saves while Pokorny had a 4.09 GAA and three saves in nearly 15 minutes of action.