FEBRUARY 18, 2016

KING'S MEN'S LACROSSE TEAM TO OPEN SEASON SATURDAY AGAINST KEYSTONE

WILKES-BARRE — The King's College men's lacrosse team will open the 2016 season on Saturday when the Monarchs host Keystone College at 1:00 p.m. at McCarthy Stadium. The Monarchs are looking to improve on their 6-8 overall record and 3-3 Freedom Conference mark in which King's qualified for the league playoffs for the fourth straight year, losing to eventual champion Eastern University in the semi-finals.

Fans can follow the game online at the following links:

Live Video:  http://livestream.com/kingscollege

LiveStats:  http://www.sidearmstats.com/kings/mlax/

The Monarchs return 15 players from the 2015 squad and again have post-season aspirations. King's was predicted to finish fourth in the Freedom Conference Pre-Season Coaches Poll.

 

Offensively, King's is young and will be paced by sophomore attack Brock Johnson who finished second on the squad a year ago with 35 points on 22 goals and 13 assists while tallying 16 ground balls.  Junior Mike Paniccia is also another returnee hoping to see an increased role.  Five freshman will challenge for playing time, led by Brett O'Neill, Brian Steiger, Holden Schooley, Ryan Gorman, and Wayne Mitchell.  The Monarchs will hope that the newcomers up front will quickly adjust to the college game and gel together sooner rather than later.

In the midfield, King's returns solid experience from a group of players who will need to help carry the squad in the early going until toffense comes together. Junior team co-captain Kyle Wilk who posted 11 points on six goals and five assists. He is joined by senior Evan Lawshe who registered 12 points on seven goals and five assists with 28 ground balls. Also back is senior long-stick Marshall Hardy, who had 10 ground balls, and sophomore midfielder Nick Foley who doubles as a faceoff specialist.

 

Last season Foley, a second-team All-Freedom Conference selection, won 139-of-255 face-offs while registering a team-high 57 ground balls. Other returning midfielders looking to contribute include juniors Dylan Janson and Mike DiCarlo; sophomores Reilly Breig, and Matt Rerig; and promising freshman Nick Maher. Another newcomer who could make an impact is sophomore Shawn Dickey, a transfer from Division I UMass-Lowell.

 

Defensively, the Monarchs return junior co-captain Craig Lowman who started all 14 games a year ago and registered 27 ground balls with 15 caused turnovers. Senior Marshall Hardy, junior co-captain Joseph Cupoli and junior Ryan Secor all add valuable experience.  Sophomore newcomer Justin Childs and freshmen Tanner Hale, Jared Ludy, Mike McDougal, Tom Bernicker, and Ryan Matuziewicz will all look to contribute.  

Matuziewicz is the fourth member of his family to play lacrosse at King's, joining older brothers Steve (2002-05), a current Monarch assistant coach, along with John (2003-06), and Alan (2007-10).

In goal, the Monarchs have four players competing, led by returning senior co-captain Derek Bowman who was the primary back-up a year. Bowman did not allow a goal in two games last season. Sophomore George Pfieffer also played in two games and hopes for an increased role. Freshman Matt Basile has looked good in the pre-season and has the inside edge to challenge Bowman. Fellow rookie Cody Prindle is also competing for time.

 

Monarch head coach Andy Orlowski enters his 14th season as King's head coach and will look to lead King's to a fifth straight post-season tournament berth.

King's will play a 14-game schedule, which includes seven MAC Freedom Conference games. The Monarchs will play seven non-conference games before opening up league competition April 9 at DeSales.  New to the schedule this year are Moravian College and new Freedom Conference member Wilkes University.