OCTOBER 31, 2016

KING'S MEN'S SOCCER TEAM TO FACE EASTERN IN FREEDOM CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS

WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College men's soccer team will make its fifth straight post-season tournament appearance when the Monarchs travel to face Eastern University in the Freedom Conference Championships semi-finals Tuesday at 2:00 p.m.

Ticket prices set by the Middle Atlantic Conference Office are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, and $2 for students and children. Pre-school children under age-six will be admitted free.

Fans unable to attend can follow the game online at the following links.

Live Video: https://livestream.com/eagle-vision

LiveStats:  http://www.sidearmstats.com/eastern/msoc/

King's enters the contest as the third seed after finishing the regular-season with a 9-8-1 overall record and a 4-3 Freedom Conference mark. Eastern, the defending Freedom Conference champion, is the second seed, after going 14-3-1 and 5-2 in league competition.

The teams played their regular-season game on October 22 with Eastern posting a 1-0 victory in a game marred by heavy winds throughout.

King's and Eastern are no strangers to post-season meetings in recent years. Last season the Monarchs were the top-seed in the league tournament and lost to the second-seeded Eagles 3-1 in the championship game. In 2014, Eastern was the top-seed and fell to King's in the final by a 2-1 double-overtime verdict.

The Monarchs, who won Freedom Conference titles in 2013 and 2014 before placing second a year ago, suffered heavy graduation losses from the 2015 squad, including four-time All-Freedom Conference picks Daniel Hernandez and Chris Nygren, along with all-league defender Kevin Hagmieier.  The Monarchs also suffered another major loss prior to the start of the season when last year's leading scorer Daniel Lorandini suffered a season-ending knee injury.

King's 10th year mentor Mark Bassett may have done the finest coaching job of his career as the squad dealtt with other injuries during the course of the season. Juggling the line-up and making numerous changes, King's saw 24 different players start at least one game this season. In turn, the Monarchs have established more depth than in previous years and lose little when Bassett chooses to substitute.

King's is led offensively by sophomore forward Chris Galeano with 11 points on five goals and one assist. Senior forward Brian Fenster follows with nine points on three goals and three assists while junior midfielder Brenda Raab adds eight points on four goals. Senior forward Keegan Fees and freshman forward Fabio Massa have six points apiece.

The Monarchs, however, have relied on a solid defense which has allowed just 18 goals in 18 games this season. Sophomore goalie Owen Geedey has a 0.96 goals against average while making 61 saves. The defensive unit of senior Philip Kistner, junior Kevin Mazol, freshman August Axtman, along with sophomore Steven Grebe and Raab in the midfield, have helped limit King's opponents to just 4.4 shots on goal per-game.

Eastern is led by sophomore forward Cade Harmon with 23 points on 10 goals and three assists while senior midfielder J.D. Saracco follows with 14 points on four goals and six assists. Junior defender Jadon Ramsing and freshman forward Jake Sankey both have 12 points on five goals and two assists. In goal, Quentin Keibler has a 0.79 goals against average with 52 saves.

Should the Monarchs emerge victorious, King's will meet the winner of the other semi-final pairing between top-seeded Misericorda and fourth-seeded DeSales on Saturday at the site of the highest remaining seed.