WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 19, 2018) -- Junior back Marie Pietracatella scored 6:09 into overtime Friday evening to lift the visiting Devils of FDU-Florham to a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom win over the King's College field hockey team in play from McCarthy Stadium on a chilly October evening. 

The game started over an hour late because of traffic that held up the visiting Devils, and the contest showed as there were only two shots over the first 12 minutes. The game started to get going in the 13th minute, as FDU-Florham had a good chance but shots by Brooke Sherwin and Maggie Sohns were denied by first-time starting goalkeeper Dervla Mcerlean. 

It appeared that the Devils (14-3, 6-0 MAC Freedom) took the early lead in the 18th minute as Alyssa Mele fired a shot under a diving Mcerlean but senior captain Natalie Muscatell was there to swipe the ball off the goal line just before it crossed into the cage. 

The Devils continued to rack up penalty corners but once again were thwarted by Mcerlean and the defensive unit midway through the half. FDU-Florham had another gold star chance in the 31st minute as a Jessica Pietracatella shot was cleared off the line by Muscatell for her second defensive save of the game. 

Just before the half the visitors once again almost took the lead, but a drive off the penalty corner insert from Makayla Pak clanged off the post to send the game into halftime scoreless. The King's net minder made seven saves in the opening stanza. 

In the second half, the King's defensive unit led by Mcerlean along with Muscatell, Connie Mangino, Taylor Runo and Jennifer Smalley denied the Devils any great scoring chances. King's best chance to get on the board came with less than three minutes to play, as a scrum in front nearly saw senior Kelsey Gabriele score while freshman Alexis Prowker also had a chance that was cleared by FDU-Florham. 

In overtime, the visitors controlled possession and pinned King's deep, forcing five penalty corners. On the fifth and final corner, Maggie Sohns inserted and a shot by Pak was saved, going right to Marie Pietracatella and she slotted it past two diving defenders for the game-winner and her first goal of the year. 

Mcearlean finished with 16 saves in her first collegiate start, the most saves for a King's goalkeeper since Megan Withrow made 18 in a game back on September 13, 2012 against the University of Scranton. FDU-Florham was awarded 21 penalty corners on the game, and held a 33-1 shot edge. The game was marred with fouls, as the two teams combined for 149 fouls though no cards were assessed. 

The game was also featured the culmination of the 3rd Annual Pink Pumpkin Fundraiser, as the team was split into three groups and designed a Breast Cancer themed pumpkin. The team also sold pink shirts and earned money for donation for breast cancer awareness with a youth clinic. In all, the squad raised $1,003 dollars to be able to donate to the cause. 

King's (8-10, 3-3 MAC Freedom) will host DeSales University Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. in a must-win contest for the Monarchs in the final regular season game of the year.