WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 25, 2018) – The King's College women's ice hockey team is set to begin their second season this weekend with two home games. The Monarchs will host cross-town rival Wilkes University on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. before taking on SUNY Oswego on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Pittston at Revolution Ice Centre.

The Monarchs are looking to improve on their 0-22-1 record in their inaugural season. Jennifer Kindret brought in a talented group of five freshmen to increase the roster size up to 19. King's is also more experienced this year as the team has all seven student-athletes back that played in all 23 games last season.

FORWARDS
Josée Aitken was King's leading scorer last year with 10 points on seven goals and three assists. She scored the first goal in program history and had the first multi-goal game with two against Trine in mid-January last year. The Monarchs also bring back captains Gracen Mahoney and Mary Deyell. Mahoney scored four goals and added one assist as King's starting center. Deyell was second on the team with seven points on one goal and six assists. Aitken and Mahoney were named to the UCHC Preseason Player to Watch list.

Caitlin Redden and Kellie Munro will look to add more to the Monarch after combining for three goals and four assists a year ago. Redden scored all three of those goals while adding an assist while Munro dished out three assists. Raeann Clancey will also look for a more expanded role in the offense after recording one assist last year. The Monarchs also welcome back Alycia Sandella who played in just six games last year.

Kindret added three freshmen to the forward line this year in Maggie Gould, Alexa Kovaly, and Tessa Schaefer-Flynn. Gould comes to King's from Hamden, Connecticut and the Hartford Lady Wolfpack. Kovaly played for the Hershey Jr. Bears last year and is a local product from nearby Shavertown. Schaefer-Flynn is from Holbrook, Massachusetts and played for Kent Hills School.

DEFENSE
The Monarchs have three defenders back in sophomores Kelly Tuffy, Sarah Lawson, and Morgan Almon. Almon and Tuffy added to the Monarchs offense with assists last year as Almon recorded two and Tuffy had one.

Freshmen Erin King and Meghan Mietlicki are expected to come in right away and help the three defenders stop opponents. A short-handed Monarch defense gave up 6.6 goals and 52.3 shots per game a year ago. King is from Waltham, Massachusetts and played for powerhouse Cushing Academy. She was named to the UCHC Preseason Player to Watch list. Mietlicki is from Le Roy, New York and played for Caledonia-Mumford.

GOALIES
King's has all four goalies back from last year. Emma Zeveney and Kiva Sierra Stoltz saw the most action last year as they split time in goal. Zeveney made 12 starts and had a 5.38 goals against average with a .888 save percentage in 635:50 minutes of action. She recorded a season-high 58 saves on the last weekend on the season at Utica and picked up King's lone point of the year with a shutout tie against Lebanon Valley. Stoltz made nine starts and had a 6.92 goals against average and a .875 save percentage. She finished near the top of the NCAA with an amazing 73 saves against National Runner-Up Elmira in November. Stoltz earned MAC Defensive Player of the Week and UCHC Rookie of the Week after making 71 saves against Stevenson on December 2nd.

Brittany Rose saw action in four games making one start while recording a 10.04 GAA and a .806 save percentage. Anna Monsrud played in three games making one start with a 8.96 GAA and a .844 save percentage.

THE SCHEDULE
King's will see some new teams this year in non-conference play starting the opening weekend with first-year program Wilkes on Friday and then SUNY Oswego on Saturday. The Monarchs will then open up UCHC play with a home series against Utica before back-to-back weekends in New York. KC will first take on first-year program Nazareth before traveling to Manhattanville. King's will close the first half of the schedule with a weekend at Nichols, hosting Stevenson and then a single game at SUNY Cortland on December 8.

The Monarchs will come back in January to their two toughest opponents of the year. King's will travel to William Smith and Elmira on back-to-back weekend to begin the second half of the schedule. KC will then have Chatham and Anna Maria College at home before finishing up the season with home-and-home series with Lebanon Valley and Neumann.