WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 29, 2018) – The second-seeded King's College men's soccer team will host third-seeded Manhattanville College on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the semifinals of the MAC Freedom Tournament at McCarthy Stadium.
 
Event Details
Opponent: vs Manhattanville College (12-4-0, 5-2-0 MAC Freedom)
Date: Tuesday October 30, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Wilkes-Barre, PA – McCarthy Stadium (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
ADMISSION: Adults - $5, Senior Citizens - $4, Students (valid ID) & Children - $2, Pre-school (under 6) with Adult – Free (Prices set by MAC office)
 
Last Time Out: The Monarchs lost a tough close battle at top-seeded Eastern 1-0 on Saturday afternoon in St. Davids. Eastern score the lone goal of the match in the 10th minute on a cross that deflected off a King's defender and off the chest of Eagle striker into the net. King's held a 13-10 shot advantage and took four corner kicks to Eastern's one.
 
Manhattanville earned the third seed with a 1-0 victory over fourth-seeded Misericorida on Saturday in Purchase, NY. Cristian Araujo took advantage of a bad Cougar turnover in the box and knocked the loose ball into the back of the net late in the 11th minute. The Valiants held a 20-7 shot advantage while taking the only two corner kicks of the match.
 
The Book On The Monarchs (10-5-2, 5-2-0 MAC Freedom):

• The Monarchs scored three goals in the first half to defeat Manhattanville 4-2 in their regular season meeting on October 13 in Purchase. King's responded to an early M'Ville goal a couple minutes later to even the score before scoring twice in the final five minutes of the half.
• King's has been led by their defense this season conceding just 10 goals in 17 matches. Their 0.57 goals against average is ranked 18th in the nation while their shutout percentage of .588 is 21st. The Monarchs are allowing 7.2 shots per match and have put more shots on goal than they have allowed total shots.
• Junior August Axtman has anchored the defense all season while also leading the team in scoring. The defender has scored seven goals including six penalty kicks for 14 points. He is tied for eighth in conference in points and tied for fifth in goals. His three game-winning goals are the second most in the conference. He has been named the MAC Freedom Defender of the Week three times this season.
• Senior keeper Owen Geedey is another huge factor in the Monarchs having one of the top defenses in the nation. The captain has been honored twice as the MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week while recording eight shutouts which is the most in the MAC Freedom and 15th in the nation. He is currently the school record holder with 30 career shutouts. His .839 save percentage is 38^th in the nation and 0.58 goals against average is 20th. He has a career GAA of 0.60 which will be a new program record.
• Junior forward Aidan DeCamillo has recorded 12 points on five goals and two assists this year. He has done most of his damage in conference play with three goals and one assist in six matches. He recorded a point in four of King's five conference wins. DeCamillo is tied for 13th in the conference in points.
• Freshman Quentin Szeker-Cortes has taken many of King's indirect kicks this season and has become their primary kicker on corner kicks from the right side. The defender has recorded all five of his assists off set pieces which puts him tied for fifth in the conference.
• The Monarchs have also gotten scoring by sophomore Liam McLoughlin and junior Fabio Massa. Both have scored three goals this season. McLoughlin has added two assists and Massa has one. Both are in the top 10 of the MAC Freedom in shots taken as Massa is sixth with 38 and McLoughlin is seventh with 33.
• Juniors Ryan Romeo and Alastair Dinnan along with sophomores Sam Pipicelli and Will Brack have found the back of the net twice each this year. Senior Zach Wolcott has added one goal and four assists.
• King's has been great at earning corner kicks this year as their 7.18 taken per match is 10th in the nation.
• King's is 7-6-1 all-time against the Valiants including a 4-2-1 record in Wilkes-Barre. This will be the last time the Monarchs will face Manhattanville as conference opponents with M'Ville's move to the Skyline Conference next year. KC went 6-5-1 against the Valiants in conference play and are 1-1 in conference tournament matches. King's and Manhattanville last met in the MAC Freedom Semifinal in 2015 when the top-seeded Monarchs defended their home turf to defeat fourth-seeded Manhattanville 2-0.

The Book On The Valiants (12-4-0, 5-2-0 MAC Freedom):

• Manhattanville's only two conference losses this year have been to Eastern and King's. The Valiants have won their past three matches since a 4-2 loss to the Monarchs to earn the third seed in the tournament.
• M'Ville has played 10 of their 16 matches away from GoValiants.com Field and are 8-2 in those matches. The Valiants have recorded road conference victories at DeSales (1-0), FDU-Florham (3-1), and Wilkes (3-1). Their two road losses this year have been at Vassar (1-0) on September 5th and at Eastern (3-0) on September 29th.
• The Valiants have scored the most goals in the conference this year with 44 but only scored 13 in MAC Freedom play which was tied for fourth with Wilkes. Manhattanville is 32nd in the nation in points, 41st in goals, and 22nd in assists.
• Junior Cristian Araujo has scored a conference-leading nine goals this season including four game-winning goals. The midfielder was shut down by the Monarch defense in the regular season as he was unable to get off a shot in King's 4-2 victory. Araujo has scored in all three matches since then.
• Sophomore Marius Nicolaysen is tied for eighth in the conference with 14 points on five goals and four assists. The midfielder had a goal and an assist against the Monarchs in the first meeting.
• Sophomore Pablo Bravo Olle and freshman Cody LaCava have each scored four goals and recorded four assists for 12 points. LaCava recorded a goal and an assist in consecutive 3-1 victories at FDU-Florham and Wilkes. Bravo Olle is third in the conference with 2.94 shots taken per match.
• Freshman Nico Diaz leads the team and is tied for fourth in the conference with six assists. Classmate Johnny Arauz has scored four times this season with all four goals coming in conference play.
• Freshman Charles Roberts has been great in net this year recording a 0.94 GAA and .819 save percentage with seven shutouts. He is third in the conference in GAA, fourth in saves per match with 4.21, second in shutouts, and third in save percentage.

Up Next: A victory will advance King's into the MAC Freedom Championship match on Saturday against the winner of the other semifinal between Eastern and Misericordia. King's would travel back down to St. Davids for the Championship if Eastern wins and would host Misericordia on Saturday with a Cougar upset of the top-ranked Eagles.