NOVEMBER 7, 2014

KING'S MEN'S SOCCER LOOKING FOR SECOND STRAIGHT FREEDOM CONFERENCE TITLE SATURDAY AT EASTERN

WILKES-BARRE — The King's College men's soccer team will be looking to win its second straight Freedom Conference championship on Saturday when the Monarchs travel to play for the league title against Eastern University at 1:00 p.m. in St. Davids.

Fans unable to attend can follow the game live on the Internet at the following links

LiveStats:    http://bit.ly/eums-livestats

Live Video:  http://bit.ly/eaglevision2

King's, which is seeded third in the event, is looking to claim a second consecutive Freedom title from the same seed it won from a year ago.  The Monarchs sport a 14-5-1 overall record after going 5-2 in the Freedom Conference regular-season. King's avenged its first conference loss Tuesday night with a 3-1 Freedom semi-final victory over second-seeded Misericordia.  

The Monarchs will look to do the same against top-seeded Eastern after the Eagles beat King's 2-1 on October 22 in St. David.  Eastern enters the game with a 15-3 overall record and went 6-1 during the Freedom Conference regular-season.

King's has been paced by the play of senior midfielder Niall Croke, the 2014 Freedom Conference "Defensive Player of the Year". Croke is tied for the Monarchs' scoring lead with 24 points on 11 goals and two assists.  Also totaling 24 points is junior forward Chris Nygren, a first-team All-Freedom Conference choice with seven goals and 10 assists.

 

Junior Daniel Hernandez, another junior first-team all-conference pick, has tallied 14 points on five goals and four assists while senior forward Korbin Keene has 13 points on six goals and one assist. Senior David Stroh has contributed 11 points on four goals and three assists while fellow senior Billy Brown chips in with 10 points on four goals and two assists. Keegan Fees and Brian Fenster chip in with eight points apiece.

The Monarch defense, led by All-Freedom Conference selections Chris Conaty and Billy Brown, along with Tyler Harlan and Phillip Kistner. King's has held opponents to an average of just 6.5 shots on-goal per-game. In goal, sophomore Tyler Wilson has a 1.28 goals against average with 67 saves.

Eastern is paced by Freedom Conference "Offensive Player of the Year" Eric Giovagnoli who has scored 34 points on 14 goals and six assists. Benjamin Barnhart follows with 21 points on nine goals and three assists. John Cirrocco chips in with 14 points on six goals and two assists.

In goal, Jamie Stratton has a 0.43 goals against average with 30 saves in 839 minutes of play while Nick Policastro owns a 1.24 GAA with 22 saves in 797 minutes.

The winner of the Freedom Conference receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III National Tournament.