OCTOBER 26, 2017

KING'S MEN'S ICE HOCKEY SET TO DEBUT AT HOME FRIDAY AGAINST BROCKPORT

DIRECTIONS TO REVOLUTION ICE CENTRE

 

WILKES-BARRE -- When Stephen Mallaro was introduced as the head coach of King's College's newly-created men's ice hockey program on July 6, 2016, the freshly-hired Monarch mentor had a vision for how to build a first-year program from scratch. That vision becomes reality when King's plays its first-ever men's ice hockey game Friday at 7:00 PM at Revolution Ice Center in Pittston against Brockport State University.

Admission to the game is free.

Fans unable to attend can follow online at the following links:

Live Video:  https://livestream.com/kingscollege
LiveStats:  http://www.sidearmstats.com/kings/mhockey/
WRKC 88.5 FM:  http://wrkc.kings.edu/list/current.html

The process of building an NCAA ice hockey program at any level is a major challenge. But at the NCAA Division III level where there are no athletic scholarships to offer, the building a program takes on a different form altogether. Mallaro spent countless hours recruiting players from around the country as well as Canada to form the program's first roster.

King's 25-player roster will be comprised of 21 freshmen and four transfers and hail from locations as far away as Illinois, Texas, Florida, and several different areas of Canada. The  team also features an east Coast flare with players from Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Unlike sports such as basketball, NCAA Division III ice hockey programs are not afforded several weeks or practice to prepare for their seasons. The Monarchs began on-ice practice October 16 and will have had less than two weeks to mesh a group of players into a first-year team.

The team did have an opportunity to prepare with exhibition games against Stevenson University and Manhattanville.

Players looking to make an impact offensively for the Monarchs include forwards Cameron Anklewich, Luciano Bucci, Isaac Cirinnia, Chris Conlin, Luke Damiano, Anthony Frati,Tommy Green, Nicholas Gullo, Orion Linnehan, Jamie Lukas, Tyler O'Mara, David Stonebraker, and Tanner Wilding.

Defensively, players competing for time include Alex Bastone, Mitchell Foster, Zack Goodman, Eric Menninger, Andrew Newman, Seamus O'Kane, Jack O'Neil, Nicholas Palumbo, and Tyler Wilding.

Competing for the starting goaltending role are Mike Costentino, Link Ferch, and Jake Tugnutt, the son of former NHL goalie Ron Tugnutt, who played for seven different NHL teams from 1987-2004.

"Practice has been consistent but we need to continue to iron out the wrinkles," Mallaro stated. "Everyone knows we are on information overload right now, but we are preparing the players for what lies ahead and we have a confident group. Preparation drives execution, and execution leads to success and confidence. We hold ourselves to a high standard and we expect excellence on the ice, in the classroom and in the community. Excellence will demand greater preparation of our coaching staff and our players. We have to respect the process of developing young players into seasoned vets."

The program at Brockport, meanwhile, dates back to 1973. The team comes off a 11-14-1 record a year ago and qualified for the post-season in the highly-regarded State University of New York Athletic Conference Tournament.

The Golden Eagles are led by sophomore Connor Hutchins who led Brockport last season as a rookie with 27 points on 12 goals and 15 assists. Junior Tim Kielich followed with 25 points on three goals and a team-high 22 assists while senior Aidan Verbeke posted 23 points on 10 goals and 13 assists. In goal. sophomore Matt Schneider posted a 3.28 goals against average with 354 saves in 14 games as a freshman a year ago.