PITTSTON, PA (October 26, 2018) – Captain Gracen Mahoney assisted on the first two goals of the game to lead the King's College women's ice hockey team to a 3-1 victory over Wilkes University in the season-opening game on Friday at Revolution Ice Centre in Pittston. The victory was the first was the program in their 24th game.

Wilkes, playing in their first-ever game, came out strong winning the opening faceoff and putting the first shot of the game on net just over a minute in. The Monarchs countered with a shot from Caitlin Redden that Ally Joy made a save on and covered up for another faceoff. Mahoney won the faceoff and the Monarchs got the puck out to Meghan Mietlicki who hit the pipe with a laser.

King's went on their first power-play at the 4:37 mark when Laurenne Fraser was called for tripping. The Monarchs put three shots on goal during the two-minute extra-woman advantage but were unable to score. Not long after returning to the ice Fraser was called for another penalty, this time for roughing. Wilkes won the following faceoff, but King's took advantage of the extra woman to get the puck back from the Colonels. Maggie Gould scored her first career goal at 7:27 to give the Monarchs a 1-0 lead. Mahoney and Josée Aitken had the assists on the play.

The Colonels responded with a strong attack, but Kiva Sierra Stoltz was strong in net for the Monarchs making four saves over the course of the next three minutes. Wilkes earned their first power-play opportunity of the night at 16:26 when Mahoney was called for slashing. The Monarchs successfully killed the opportunity allowing just six total shots with only two reaching Stoltz. King's kept the one-goal advantage going into the intermission but started the second period on the penalty kill after a goaltender interference penalty in the last minute of the first period.

King's struggled in the second period as they played much of it a woman-down. The Monarchs committed seven penalties over the course of the second 20 minutes of action. However, their defense played strong holding the Colonels to seven shots on goal in the period. Stoltz made all seven saves as King's went into the second intermission still leading by one.

The Monarchs came out of the locker room for the final period still struggling to keep all five skaters on the ice as they were called for two penalties in the first four minutes. As they had all game they were able to kill off the penalties without allowing a goal. Once they were back to full strength they attacked the tired Colonel defense. Mietlicki had a shot blocked before Mahoney found Raeann Clancey streaking down the center of the ice while being taken out by a Wilkes defender. Clancey then found the back of the net for her first goal of the year on the delayed penalty to increase King's lead to 2-0.

Wilkes cut the deficit in half at the 9:16 mark of the period as Kendall Castro scored the first goal in program history off assists by Ashley Murry and Sauna Tubbs. Five minutes later Kellie Munro ended all hope of a Wilkes comeback with her first career goal. Aitken and Clancey had the assists on the play.

King's finished the game outshooting the Colonels 30-26 behind a strong third period where they had an 18-11 advantage. Mahoney and Aitken each had two assists while Clancey scored a goal and added an assist. Stoltz made 25 saves to earn the win in net. The Monarchs were 1-for-4 on the power-play while Wilkes did not score on 10 opportunities.

The Monarchs will look to make it two wins in a row to start the season on Saturday night when they host SUNY Oswego at 7 p.m. back at Revolution Ice.