WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 31, 2018) – The King's College men's ice hockey team will start conference play this weekend with two games against Elmira College and Lebanon Valley College. The Monarchs will be on the road for the first time this year with a Friday night matchup in Pine Valley, NY against the Soaring Eagles before hosting the Flying Dutchmen of LVC on Saturday at Revolution.
 
Event Details
Opponent: at Elmira College (1-2-0, 0-0-0 UCHC)
Date: Friday November 2, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Pine Valley, NY – Murray Athletic Center – Ice Arena (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video) (Live Audio)
 
Opponent: vs Lebanon Valley College (1-1-0, 0-0-0 UCHC, 0-0-0 MAC)
Date: Saturday November 3, 2018
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Location: Pittston, PA – Revolution Ice Centre (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 
Last Time Out: The Monarchs played Brockport tough last Saturday but two second period power play goals by Mitchell Parsons were the difference in a 2-0 loss to the Golden Eagles. King's won 35 of the 68 faceoffs and Jake Tugnutt made 39 saves in net.
 
Elmira rebounded from two losses to nationally-ranked Hobart on opening weekend with a 3-2 victory at SUNY Potsdam on Tuesday night. Ryan Blais scored the first two goals of the game in the first period before Potsdam evened the score with two goals in the second. Connor Powell scored the game-winning goal at 13:51 of the third. The Eagles were outshot 40-21 but Gennaro made 38 saves in net to give EC the victory.
 
Lebanon Valley were shutout by SUNY Cortland in New York on Saturday 4-0 after beginning the year with a 6-0 victory over Morrisville State at the Giant Center. TJ Sneath had a hat trick against the Mustangs to earn UCHC Player of the Week Honors. Tyler Perhac made 32 saves on 36 shots against the Red Dragons in a losing effort.

The Book On The Monarchs (0-2-0, 0-0-0 UCHC, 0-0-0 MAC):

• The Monarchs are still looking for the first point in program history on the second weekend of their second season. King's had many close games last year, including at home against the Dutchmen, and one last weekend against Brockport.
• Senior goalie Jake Tugnutt was fantastic in net against Brockport making 39 saves. He is currently tied for 29th in the nation in goals against average at 2.00 and his save percentage of .951 is 20th.
• King's has done a good job at not committing penalties in the first weekend. They are currently tied for 14th in the nation with just 9.0 penalty minutes per game.
• Sophomore transfer Christian La Croix leads the team in shots with six. He recorded three shots in both of King's opening weekend contests.
• Senior Jamie Lukas has taken three shots this year and blocked a team-leading four shots. Sophomore Zack Goodman has also blocked four shots.
• Sophomore Link Ferch made 48 saves against SUNY Geneseo in the season open and has a save percentage of .828.
• Sophomore Luciano Bucci has won 14 of 27 faceoffs for a team-best .519 percentage.

The Book On The Soaring Eagles (1-2-0, 0-0-0 UCHC):

• Elmira was 8-5-3 in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference a year ago advancing to the Inaugural UCHC Championship game where they lost to Utica 8-3.
• The Soaring Eagles defeated the Monarchs 7-4 on the opening weekend of conference play last year in New York and then 6-1 in Pittston on January 20th.
• Juniors Matthew Cuce and Nick Ford lead the team with five points in three games. Ford has two goals, one shorthanded, and three assists while Cuce has recorded one goal and four assists.
• Junior Connor Powell is tied for 21st in the nation with 1.00 goals per game after scoring two against Hobart on Saturday and one at Potsdam on Tuesday.
• Sophomore Ryan Blais has scored two power play goals this year which is tied for 13th.
• Sophomore Gennaro Anzevino is 1-1 in goal with a 3.75 goals against average and a .900 save percentage.
• EC is 12th in the nation with 23.3 penalty minutes per game and has successfully killed 10 of 15 power play opportunities.

The Book On The Flying Dutchmen (1-1-0, 0-0-0 UCHC, 0-0-0 MAC):

• Lebanon Valley went a surprising 10-4-2 in conference play a season ago before losing 3-1 to Neumann in the UCHC Quarterfinals.
• The Dutchmen went 2-3-1 in Middle Atlantic Conference play with both victories coming against King's. LVC defeated the Monarchs 8-3 in Hershey in early December before needing a late goal in a 5-4 victory at Revolution the second-to-last weekend of the year.
• Seniors TJ Sneath and Brett Johnson both have three points on the season to lead the team. Sneath has three goals while Johnson recorded one goal and two assists against the Mustangs.
• Senior Brian Hovanec and junior Cole Hepler have each recorded two assists.
• Freshman Nick Sorgio recorded a shutout in his collegiate debut making 28 saves. Junior Tyler Perhac allowed four goals on 36 shots for a .889 save percentage in net.
• Lebanon Valley is 24th in the nation with 17.0 penalty minutes per game but have been very good on the penalty kill. They have been successful on 14 of 15 penalty kill opportunities.
• Their combined special teams percentage of 63.0 is 11th in the nation.

Up Next: King's will stay at home next weekend with two more UCHC contests against Chatham and Stevenson. The Monarchs will face the Cougars on Friday night at 7 p.m. before hosting the Mustangs on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Pittston. The game against Stevenson will also count towards MAC play.