WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 25, 2018) – The King's College men's ice hockey team will begin their second season this weekend with two games at Revolution Ice Centre in Pittston. The Monarchs will host nationally-ranked SUNY Oswego on Friday night at 7 p.m. before hosting The College at Brockport at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

King's is looking for their first program victory after a few close calls last year. Despite going 0-25-0 in the inaugural season, the Monarchs were very competitive against a tough schedule. KC played five one-goal games and had another four decided by just two goals. The Monarchs were even 0.7 seconds away from a tie against Western New England before a Golden Bear knocked in the game-winning goal in the overtime period.

Stephen Mallaro brings back his top seven scorers from a year ago and the top two goaltenders. There will be some new faces on the team with seven freshmen and one sophomore transfer from Plymouth State joins the squad.

FORWARDS
King's will look to score more this year with a lot of firepower back from a team that finished the season strong averaging 2.5 goals per game in their final six contests. Jamie Lukas and Tyler O'Mara were named to the UCHC Preseason Player to Watch list after combining for 10 of King's 47 goals a season ago. Lukas recorded 12 points on four goals and eight assists while O'Mara had nine points on a team-leading six goals and three assists. Luciano Bucci was a big part of the offense last year dishing out 11 assists and scoring three goals for 14 points.

Isaac Cirinna, Nicholas Gullo, and Cameron Anklewich are also back for the Monarchs. Cirinna led the team with three short-handed goals and tallied 10 points on five goals and five assists. Gullo also recorded 10 points on three goals and seven assists. Anklewich had three goals and five assists for eight points while etching his name in the record books with the first goal in program history in the season-opener against Brockport.

King's also returns the experience of sophomores Luke Damiano, Orion Linnehan, Tanner Wilding, Tommy Green, Alex Bastone, and Matt Longobardi. Damiano scored three goals in 17 games last year while Linnehan played in all but one game recording four points on two goals and two assists. Wilding added two goals and one assist while Green had one goal and two assists in 15 games. Bastone had one assist in 16 games and Longobardi played in six games after transferring from Western New England in the middle of the year.

Christian La Croix, JP Natishan, Matt Amelio, Michael DiSchiavi, and David Sovik will look to compete for time on the ice and add to the Monarch attack. La Croix is a sophomore transfer from Plymouth State where he scored four goals and added four assists as a freshman. Natishan is a local product from nearby Lehman and is already comfortable playing at Revolution having played for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights. Amelio is from Venetia, Pennsylvania and played for the Vermont Lumberjacks last year. DiSchiavi is a Canadian product from Toronto and played for his hometown Jr. Canadians. Sovik is from the Czech Republic and played club hockey in Canada for the Ontario Avalanche.

DEFENSE
The defense is led by senior captain Nicholas Palumbo. Palumbo was an All-MAC First Teamer last year after leading the Monarchs in scoring with 18 points on five goals and 13 assists. He was named to the UCHC Preseason Player to Watch list.  Mitchell Foster, Andrew Newman, Jack O'Neil, Eric Menninger, and Tyler Wilding all saw action in 20 or more games last season as the Monarchs look to be better at the defensive end this year.

Foster and Newman had four points each last season while O'Neil recorded three assists. Menninger had a goal and an assist while Wilding added an assist. Zack Goodman will look to see his first action on the ice after missing the year due to injury.

The Monarchs will also look for Nick D'Urso and Connor Lavin to make an impact on the defensive side of the ice. D'Urso is from Park City, Utah and competed for the Millbrook School while Lavin played for P.A.L. Islanders and is a native of Old Brookville, New York.

GOALIES
Link Ferch and Jake Tugnutt split most of the time in net last year. Ferch made 12 starts and appeared in 13 games with a 4.47 goals against average and a .895 save percentage. Tugnutt played in 11 games making 10 starts with a 5.71 goals against average and a .870 save percentage. Freshman Brandon Daigle will compete for time. He is from Biddeford, Maine and played for Seacoast Spartans Prep.

THE SCHEDULE
Once again, the Monarchs face a very difficult schedule. They will start the year with the fifth-ranked team in the nation. SUNY Geneseo won the SUNYAC last year and are looking to contend for the National Championship after falling in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament last year. King's will then face another SUNYAC team as they host Brockport on Saturday.

Conference play will begin next weekend as King's travels to Elmira on Friday night before hosting Lebanon Valley on Saturday. KC will then be home the next two weeks hosting Chatham, Stevenson, Wilkes, and Bryn Athyn. Thanksgiving weekend will bring another trip up to Rutland, Vermont for the WSYB/Catamount Radio Invitational. King's will face the hosts Castleton on the first night of the tournament and then face either Brockport or Anna Maria on the second day.

The first half of the season will wrap up with a weekend on the road against Neumann and Manhattanville and then a weekend at home against Nazareth and then nationally-ranked Utica. King's will start 2019 with a weekend series at Trine University before jumping into the second round of conference play.