FEBRUARY 20, 2016

KING'S MEN'S LACROSSE OPENS SEASON WITH 17-6 WIN OVER KEYSTONE

WILKES-BARRE --Freshman Brian Steiger made his collegiate debut a memorable one by tying the school-record with six goals as the King's College men's lacrosse team posted a season-opening 17-6 victory over visiting Keystone College Saturday at McCarthy Stadium.

King's cored the first goal of the game just 0:59 into the contest when Evan Lawshe scored unassisted.  After goals by freshmen Matt Rerig, Reilly Breig and Brett O'Neill, Steiger netted his first goal on a man-up opportunity to give the Monarchs a 5-0 lead with at the end of the first quarter

After Keystone scored to start the second quarter, the Monarchs used a pair of scores from Kyle Wilk and Holden Schooley before Steiger rattled off four straight goals to give the Monarchs a 11-1 lead heading into the halftime break. 

After Michael Paniccia netted back-to-back scores for the Monarchs, Marshall Hardy put King's on top 14-1 with 4:59 remaining in the third quarter.

Following a Keystone goal, Nick Maher countered for King's to extend the lead to 15-2 with 1:37 to go in the third quarter. After Keystone scored midway through the fourth quarter, Lawshe tallied his second goal for King's to make it a 16-3 game. With the Monarchs holding a 16-5 lead, Steiger tallied his record-tying sixth goal with 1:07 left in the contest.  Keystone added a late goal to set the final score.

Steiger finished the game with seven points on six goals and one assist and became the fourth King's player to score six times in a game, the last coming by John McGuire against Scranton in 2004.

Paniccia posted four points on two goals and two assists while Lawshe added two goals. Wilk and O'Neill tallied one goal and two assists each while Maher finished with one goal and one assist. In goal, Derek Bowman made six saves and allowed one goal for King's in playing the first half while Matt Basile posted five stops in the second half.

For Keystone, Pat Hash and Caleb Stroke scored three goals apiece. 

King's outshot Keystone 34-29 and posted 20 ground balls compared to 15 for Keystone. The Monarchs were 3-of-8 in extra-man opportunities.

The Monarchs return to the field again Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. matchup at Susquehanna University.