OCTOBER 31, 2015
KING'S SOCCER TEAMS FACE DELAWARE VALLEY TO FINISH REGULAR SEASON WITH MAJOR POSTSEASON IMPLICATIONS ON THE LINE WILKES-BARRE, PA --- The King's College men's and women's soccer teams will close out the regular season with trips to Doylestown, PA to face last place Delaware Valley University in games that have major postseason implications for both teams. The men will play tonight at 7:00 p.m. while the women will play tomorrow at 5:00 p.m.
The men will enter tonight's game with a 14-3-1 overall record and 4-1-1 conference mark while the Aggies enter with a 5-12-1 overall record and 0-6 conference mark. The Monarchs sit in a tie atop the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom standings with Eastern University with 13 points but hold the tie-breaker thanks to their 1-0 defeat of the Eagles last Saturday night. King's and Eastern have both clinched berths into next week's MAC Freedom Tournament. FDU-Florham sits in third with 12 points and Misericordia University is currently in the fourth with 10 points. Manhattanville is one point behind them with nine in fifth and DeSales University is in sixth with eight points. Wilkes University and Delaware Valley have been eliminated from postseason contention but will look to play spoiler in the regular season finale.
The Monarchs just need to defeat the Aggies and they will clinch the top seed in the conference and will face the fourth seed on Wednesday in the semifinals, and then the Championship game on Saturday if they win on Wednesday. King's can also clinch a home game on Wednesday if they end with a tie against the Aggies tonight. If the Monarchs tie against the Aggies and Eastern and FDU-Florham tie tomorrow then King's will be the top seed in the conference tournament. If either Eastern or FDU-Florham win then the Monarchs will be the second seed and host the third seed on Wednesday.
A loss against the Aggies will almost certainly drop the Monarchs to the third seed unless Eastern and FDU-Florham tie AND Misericordia falls or draws to DeSales. If that happens then Eastern will be the top seed, the Monarchs second, and the FDU-Florham third. The Monarchs can't drop any lower than the third seed and can only travel to either Misericordia or FDU-Florham as the third seed.
The women's team enters the regular season finale in third place in the conference with a 7-6-2 overall record and 2-2-2 conference mark. The Aggies sit in last place with a 4-11-3 overall record and 0-4-2 conference mark. Misericordia and DeSales are tied atop the standings with perfect 6-0 records heading into their Saturday matchup with the top seed in next week's conference tournament on the line. Both teams have clinched a conference tournament berth and a home game in the semifinal next week. The Lady Monarchs sit in third with eight points, Wilkes is fourth with seven points, Eastern is fifth with six points, FDU-Florham is sixth with five points, and Manhattanville is seventh with four points. Delaware Valley has been eliminated from tournament contention but just like the men will look to play spoiler on their senior night.
The Lady Monarchs control their own destiny and will clinch a tournament berth with a win or tie against the Aggies on Saturday night. A win will give them third seed in the conference tournament while a tie will almost certainly give them the fourth seed unless Manhattanville defeats Wilkes on Saturday. As the third seed the Monarchs will travel to face the second seed next Thursday in the semifinal. The second seed will be the loser of the Misericordia and DeSales game on Saturday. As the fourth seed they will face the winner of the Misericordia and DeSales game. In case of a tie in the Misericodia and DeSales game the Bulldogs hold the tie-breaker thanks their goal differential in conference games and will be the top seed while the Cougars will be the second seed.
The Lady Monarchs can clinch a berth in the conference tournament before they even step on the field on Saturday. If Manhattanville defeats Wilkes OR Eastern and FDU-Florham tie earlier in the day then King's will clinch a berth into next week's conference tournament no matter what they do against the Aggies. If Manhattanville defeats Wilkes AND FDU-Florham and Eastern ends in a tie the Lady Monarchs will be the third seed and Manhattanville, Wilkes, and Eastern will be in a three-way tie for the fourth and final spot in the conference tournament. A King's loss to the Aggies combined with a Wilkes win AND an Eastern win would drop King's to fifth place and eliminate them from conference tournament contention.
FDU-Florham and Manhattanville can't finish above King's in the standings while Eastern can only finish above the Lady Monarchs with a win against the Devils and a King's loss to Delaware Valley. Wilkes can only finish above the Lady Monarchs with a win against the Valiants and a King's loss or tie against the Aggies.
