WILKES-BARRE, PA (November 21, 2018) – The King's College men's ice hockey team will be on the road for the second time this season as the team travels up to Vermont this weekend for the WSYB/Catamount Radio Invitational hosted by Castleton University. The Monarchs will face the host Spartans on Friday before taking on either Brockport or Anna Maria on Saturday.
 
Event Details
Opponent: at Castleton University (0-5-3, 0-3-1 NEHC)
Date: Friday November 23, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Rutland, VT – Spartan Arena (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 
Opponent: vs The College at Brockport (5-1-1, 2-1-1 SUNYAC) or Anna Maria College (1-3-2)
Date: Saturday November 24, 2018
Time: 1:00 p.m. / 4:00 p.m.
Location: Rutland, VT – Spartan Arena (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 
Last Time Out: The Monarchs played well in a 3-0 loss to Wilkes before dropping a 6-2 decision to Bryn Athyn last weekend. Tanner Wilding and Jamie Lukas scored for King's against the Lions. Brandon Daigle made 71 saves in net on the weekend including 50 against BAC.
 
Castleton played two tight games against SUNY Canton earning a 4-4 tie before losing 3-2 in overtime. On both nights the Spartans rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the game in the third period. Jake Moore made 33 saves in net.
 
Brockport only played once last weekend earning a non-conference 3-1 victory over Hamilton on Saturday night. The Golden Eagles built a 3-0 lead on goals by Doc Gentzler, Jordan Renaud, and Kyle Collette.
 
Anna Maria played Westfield State to a 4-4 tie on Tuesday night on the road. The Amcats scored three times in the third period to take a 4-2 lead with 47 seconds left after an empty net goal. The host Owls responded with a furious comeback scoring two goals in the final 20 seconds to even the score.
 
The Book On The Monarchs (0-8-0, 0-5-0 UCHC, 0-3-0 MAC):

• King's is making their second appearance in Castleton's Thanksgiving weekend tournament. The Monarchs lost a close game to the hosts last year and then dropped a 9-3 decision to Tufts in the Third-Place game.
• Sophomore Luciano Bucci continued his streak of great play last weekend with an assist against the Lions. He now has a team-leading seven points on two goals and five assists. He has recorded at least a point in five of the past six games. Bucci has also been great on faceoffs going 82-48 for a .631 percentage.
• Sophomore Tanner Wilding scored King's first short-handed goal of the year on Saturday to cut the Lion advantage to 2-1 just 28 seconds into the second period. The forward forced a steal of the puck and then scored unassisted on a breakaway for his first goal on the year.
• Sophomore Christian La Croix has scored two power play goals this season and is tied for second on the team with four points on three goals and one assist. La Croix has two goals and one assist with 15 shots while the Monarchs have been on the power play.
• Senior Jamie Lukas has come on strong in the past couple weeks scoring three goals in the last five games. Two of his goals have come with the extra man advantage including Saturday's goal against Bryn Athyn.
• Tyler O'Mara has been strong on faceoffs this year for the Monarchs recording a .590 percentage by winning 62 and losing just 43. The sophomore has also added a goal and two assists while on the power play. Freshman Michael DiSchiavi is 13-2 on faceoffs for a team-best .867 percentage.
• Freshman Brandon Daigle has been impressive in net earning the start in three of the last four games. He has recorded a 4.87 GAA making 153 saves on 162 shots for a .890 save percentage. Six of the 19 goals he has allowed has come on the power play.
• Jake Tugnutt has a 4.67 GAA in three games this year and a save percentage of .900. The senior has made 39, 49, and 38 saves in each game he has played and half of the 14 goals he allowed were power play goals.
• King's is ranked 17th in the nation with 17.6 penalty minutes per game. The Monarchs have been successful on 29 of 43 penalty kills this year.

The Book On The Spartans (0-5-3, 0-3-1 NEHC):

• King's and Castleton are meeting on the first day of the WSYB/Catamount Radio Invitational for the second consecutive year. Last year the Spartans scored with 10.9 seconds left in regulation to defeat the Monarchs 3-2 in a very close game.
• The Spartans are looking for their first victory of the season after many tight games. Castleton has three ties and played four overtime games.
• Freshman Asa Palker has had a great start to his collegiate career with three goals and two assists to lead CU with five points. Two of his three goals have been on the power play.
• Defenseman Troy Taylor and freshman Anton Tarvainen are tied for second on the team with four points on two goals and two assists each. One of Tarvainen's goals was scored short-handed.
• The Spartans had six different goal scorers against SUNY Canton last weekend with Andrew Barber's game-tying goal with 1:23 left in Friday night's 4-4 tie being the only power play goal.
• Wyatt Pickrell is 0-4-3 in goal for the Spartans with a 3.52 GAA and a .892 save percentage. The senior has seen 85.8 percentage of the action between the pipes this season.
• Castleton hasn't seen many goals scored this year as they are scoring just 2.00 goals per game but are only allowing 4.00.
• The Spartans are fourth in penalty minutes per game with 21.8. They have successfully killed 76.7 (33-43) percent of their opponent power plays.

The Book On The Golden Eagles (5-1-1, 2-1-1 SUNYAC):

• Brockport has the best record of the teams in Rutland this weekend and are unbeaten in their last three games.
• King's would love to have another shot at the Golden Eagles after two second period power-play goals by freshman Mitchell Parsons were the difference between the two teams in a closely-contested game on the opening weekend.
• Connor Hutchins leads the team with eight points on two goals and six assists. The junior had two assists against Hamilton last weekend and has recorded a point in five games this year.
• Sophomore defenseman Ryan Romeo is tied for 23rd with 1.00 assists per game and is tied for 17th with 1.00 points per game by a defenseman. He has seven assists this year recording at least one in every game but one.
• Doc Gentzler and Parsons have each recorded six points on three goals and three assists. Gentzler has scored in the past two games and has a point in four of the past five.
• Freshman Jordan Renaud is tied for fifth in the nation with two game-winning goals. The forward has three goals total this year with two being power play goals.
• Senior Jake Moore is third in the nation with a 0.99 GAA in 304:27 minutes of action between the pipes. His .962 save percentage is ranked fourth while his .900 winning percentage (4-0-1) is 18th.
• The Golden Eagles have the fifth-ranked defense in the nation allowing just 1.57 goals per game. Brockport has been especially good on the penalty kills allowing just three goals in 27 opportunities. They are averaging just 10.0 penalty minutes per game.

The Book On The Wildcats (1-3-2):

• Anna Maria is 1-3-2 in their first year as a varsity program. The Amcats are unbeaten in their last three games with ties at Wentworth and Westfied State sandwiching their first-ever victory at St. Michael's.
•  Gavin Proeh has been dangerous on the power play for the Amcats scoring all three of his goals with the advantage. The freshman is tied for eighth in the nation with 0.50 PPG per game.
• Jack Sitzman leads the team in points with six. The forward has two goals and four assists in six games. He has recorded two points in three different games.
• Sam Cyr-Ledoux has four points on two goals and two assists. He has recorded a point in four straight games he has played in.
• The Amcats have scored one short-handed goal this year as well as two empty net goals.
• Anna Maria has played three different goalies with Brendan Boncore seeing the most action. In three games Boncore has a 0-2-1 record with a 3.59 GAA and a .895 save percentage.
• Patrick McGuane has been in net the past two games going 1-0-1 with a 2.40 GAA and a .923 save percentage.
• AMC is averaging 16.0 penalty minutes per game and is 23-30 (76.7 percent) on the penalty kill.

 
Up Next: King's will return to conference action next weekend with a pair of road games at Neumann University and Manhattanville College. The Monarchs will travel down the turnpike to face the Knights of NU in Aston at 7 p.m. on Friday night before taking on the Valiants on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in Rye, NY at the Playland Ice Casino.