WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 31, 2018) – The second-seeded King's College men's soccer team will play for a Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom Championship on Saturday traveling down the turnpike to St. Davids to take on top-seeded Eastern University at 2 p.m. on Olson Field. The matchup is a battle of the top two teams and top two defenses in the conference.
 
Event Details
Opponent: at Eastern University (16-2-1, 7-0-0 MAC Freedom)
Date: Saturday November 3, 2018
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: St. Davids, PA – Olson Field (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 King's defense completely shut down the high-scoring Manhattanville offense and Aidan DeCamillo scored in overtime to give the Monarchs a 1-0 victory in the MAC Freedom semifinal on Tuesday night at McCarthy Stadium. KC held the Valiants to just three total shots with none on goal in the match.
 
Eastern broke open a 1-1 match at halftime with four goals in the final 45 minutes to take down fourth-seeded Misericordia 5-2 on Tuesday afternoon. Five different Eagles scored while Colin Furlong recorded two assists. Liam Harmon added a goal and an assist.
 
The Book On The Monarchs (11-5-2, 5-2-0 MAC Freedom):

• King's is in the MAC Freedom Championship match for the first time since 2015 and are looking for their first title since 2014. Eastern was the opponent in both of those years with King's earning a double overtime 2-1 victory on Olson Field in 2014 before the Eagles winning 2-0 at McCarthy Stadium in 2015.
• The Monarchs have been very strong defensively this season conceding just 10 goals in 18 matches to lead the MAC Freedom. Their 0.53 goals against average is ranked 11th in the nation while their shutout percentage of .611 is 18th. The Monarchs are allowing 6.9 shots per match and have put more shots on goal than they have allowed total shots.
• Junior forward Aidan DeCamillo was the hero on Tuesday night and now has recorded 14 points on six goals and two assists this year. He has been especially good against conference teams with four goals and one assist in seven matches. He recorded a point in four of King's five conference wins during the regular season and is tied for ninth in the conference in points.
• 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 ninth 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 having the best season of his impressive four-year career and is one reason why the Monarchs have 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 a new school record nine shutouts which is the most in the MAC Freedom and 12th in the nation. He is currently the school record holder with 31 career shutouts. His .839 save percentage is 40th in the nation and 0.54 goals against average is 17th while playing the most minutes in the MAC Freedom and 15th in the nation. He has a career GAA of 0.59 which will be a new program record.
• 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 eighth with 36.
• 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.
• 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 sixth in the conference.
• KC is outscoring the opposition 34-10 this season and are also outshooting them 299-125. King's has only been out-shot once this season and that was in a 2-0 victory at DeSales. The Monarchs have put 47.2% of their shots on goal. The team continues to lead the conference and are up to ninth in the nation with 7.22 corner kicks taken per match.

The Book On The Eagles (16-2-1, 7-0-0 MAC Freedom):

• Eastern enters the MAC Freedom Championship match on a 15-match unbeaten streak winning the last 11. EU is unbeaten against conference opponents this season outscoring teams 25-4. EU defeated King's 1-0 in a defensive battle last Saturday on a 10th minute goal by Cade Harmon. King's held a 13-10 shot advantage and 4-1 edge in corner kicks.
• The Eagles have been especially strong on their home turf this season recording a 8-1-1 record on Olson Field. Their lone blemish occurred back on September 8th when William Paterson found the back of the net in overtime for a 2-1 victory. Another overtime loss against Wesleyan the next day was the last time EU has tasted defeat this year.
• Jeremy Payne is in his second season leading the Eagles after winning two National Championships for Messiah College as a midfielder. Payne led the Eagles to a 13-4-2 record last season reaching the MAC Freedom Championship match falling to DeSales in penalty kicks.
• Eastern's biggest strength this year has been their defense. The Eagles are right behind the Monarchs in the conference rankings conceding 12 goals in 1754:10 minutes. EU is ranked 25th in the nation with a GAA of 0.61 and 21st with a save percentage of .846.
• The Eagles are also scoring this year as the team is averaging 2.42 goals per match, Senior Jacob Myers leads the way with eight goal. Myers is second in the conference in goals scored and is 38th in the nation with four game-winning goals. The Monarchs held Myers to just one shot last weekend in the regular season finale.
• Senior Colin Furlong is sixth in the nation with 12 assists and has also scored three goals.
• Senior Cade Harmon has scored six times, including the game-winner against the Monarchs, and added three assists while classmate Billy Walenda has 11 points on four goals and three assists.
• Sophomore Sam Sutherland is fourth on the team with 14 points on six goals and two assists. Junior Jake Sankey had added four goals and five assists for 13 points.
• The Eagles have received very strong play in net by sophomore Anthony Hitchcock who is second in the conference with a 0.59 goals against average. Hitchcock is 12-0-1 this year in 1227:55 minutes spanning 14 starts including seven shutouts. His save percentage of .818 is third in the conference.
• Senior Ben Lochstampfor has also seen action in goal this season recording a 3-2-0 record with a 0.70 GAA and a .871 save percentage with two shutouts in 517:06 minutes of work spanning nine matches.

Up Next: A victory give the Monarchs their third conference championship in six years along with the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. A loss will end the season.