WILKES-BARRE, PA (November 28, 2018) – The King's College men's ice hockey team will begin one of their toughest stretches of the year this weekend with a pair of two United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) road games at Neumann University and Manhattanville College. Three of the Monarchs next final four games are against teams that are receiving votes in this week's USCHO Top 15 poll.
 
Event Details
Opponent: at Neumann University (0-7-2, 0-3-2 UCHC)
Date: Friday November 30, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Aston, PA – IceWorks Skating Complex (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 
Opponent: at Manhattanville College (4-1-2, 3-1-2 UCHC, 1-0-1 MAC)
Date: Saturday December 1, 2018
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Location: Rye, NY – Playland Ice Casino (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 
Last Time Out: The Monarchs lost two low-scoring games in Vermont over the Thanksgiving weekend dropping a 3-1 decision to host Castleton and then 3-2 to Anna Maria in the consolation game. King's entered the third period tied at 1 in both games. Jamie Lukas earned All-Tournament honors after scoring a goal in both games. Brandon Daigle was named the UCHC Rookie of the Week after making 78 saves in net.
 
Neumann lost two close games in Wisconsin last weekend falling 3-2 to Lawrence University before giving defending National Champion and #3/#5 St. Norbert College all it could handle in a 4-1 defeat. Glenn Florczak scored a goal and added an assist to lead the Knights with two points for the weekend. NU scored the first goal within the first five minutes of both games including just 1:44 into their contest against SNC. Former Monarch Mike Cosentino made 28 saves against Lawrence while Sammy Bernard made 41 against the defending champs.
 
Manhattanville defeated Connecticut College 3-1 on Saturday in their only game of the weekend. Alex Rowella, Oscar Arfelt, and Axel Walltott gave the Valiants a 3-0 lead through the first 35 minutes of the game before the Camels scored late in the third period to set the final score. Mac Vail made six saves in each period for 18 total saves in net.
 
 
The Book On The Monarchs (0-10-0, 0-5-0 UCHC, 0-3-0 MAC):

• Jamie Lukas was named to the All-Tournament Team at the WSYB/Catamount Radio Invitational last weekend after scoring in both games. The senior became the second skater in program history to score in three straight games and now leads the team with five goals this year. Three of those goals have been power play goals.
• Freshman Brandon Daigle was named the UCHC Rookie of the Week on Tuesday after an impressive weekend where he made 78 saves. The goalie had a streak of 28 consecutive saves against AMC on Saturday. He has played in the last four games and has lowered his season GAA to 4.25 GAA. Daigle has made 231 saves on 256 shots for a .902 save percentage.
• Luciano Bucci continued his streak of great play with his third goal of the year against the Amcats to give him a team-leading eight points. He has recorded at least a point in six games this season recording at least one point every weekend except for the opening weekend. Bucci has also been one of King's best on faceoffs going 97-69 for a .584 percentage.
• Freshman Michael DiSchiavi is having an impressive rookie season for the Monarchs recording three assists in nine games. He has also been great on faceoffs winning 16 of his 21 attempts for a team-leading .762 percentage.
• King's has improved greatly this season on faceoffs compared to last year. The Monarchs have won 51.2% of the attempts compared to just 45.8% in their inaugural season. Seven different skaters have a percentage of 50.0% or better.
• Christian La Croix has been dangerous on the power play this year in his first year in red and gold. The sophomore transfer has two goals and one assist while taking a team-leading 16 shots when King's is on a power play opportunity.
• Sophomore Cameron Anklewich has skated in all 35 games the Monarchs have played including the 10 this year. The sophomore recorded his first assist of the year against Anna Maria and has a team-best plus/minus of -1.
• A low penalty weekend has moved the Monarchs down to 29th in the nation with 15.3 penalty minutes per game. KC has been successful on 34 of 48 penalty kills this year and have scored two short-handed goals.

The Book On The Knights (0-7-2, 0-3-2 UCHC):

• Neumann is looking for their first win of the year after a slow start against a strong schedule. The 2009 National Champions have qualified for 12 consecutive conference tournaments.
• NU has losses against three ranked teams including two top 5 teams in SUNY Geneseo and St. Norbert College. Four of their losses have been by one goal.
• The Knights are playing at home for the first time since a 3-2 loss to Elmira on November 9th. Neumann is 0-3 in Aston, also dropping a 4-3 decision to Brockport and an 8-0 decision to Geneseo on the opening weekend.
• King's played the Knights tough a year ago as the Knights came away with two victories by scores of 4-2 and 5-1. In Pittston, the teams entered the third period tied at two before NU scored twice in a span of 2:22 midway through the final 20 minutes in King's fourth-ever game. On home ice in Aston, Neumann broke open a 1-1 tie after one period with two goals in both the second and third period.
• Ryan Swain has been the top goal-scorer for NU this season with four goals in seven games played. The junior scored a goal in four of the first five games he skated in this season.
• Defenseman Richie Brusco and forward Joe Mitchell lead the team with six points each. Brusco has two goals and four assists while Mitchell has recorded one goal and a team-leading five assists. Brusco has recorded at least one point in three of the last four games. Mitchell has two assists in a game twice this year and has recorded a point in four of the last five.
• Glenn Florczak leads the Knights with two power play goals and has added three assists for five points. All five of his points have come in the past five games.
• Sammy Bernard has started eight of the nine games in goal recording a 0-6-2 record with a GAA of 4.49 and a save percentage of .884. Mike Cosentino is 0-1-0 with a GAA of 4.03 and a save percentage of .891.
• The Knights have struggled with penalties this season and are fifth in penalty minutes per game with 20.7. Teams have scored 17 power play goals against them as they have killed off 70.2% of 57 opportunities. Neumann has allowed three short-handed goals this season.

The Book On The Valiants (4-1-2, 3-1-2 UCHC, 1-0-1 MAC):

• Manhattanville received a vote in this week's USCHO Top 15 Poll after a strong start to the season. The Valiants are on a four-game winning streak and a six-game unbeaten streak after dropping their season-opener at then-ranked Utica. MC is outscoring their opponents 17-5 during their winning streak.
• The Valiants are 1-0-1 at Playland Ice Casino this year with a 2-2 tie against Lebanon Valley and a 6-2 win over Elmira.
• King's and M'Ville played two very physical games a year ago with the Valiants winning both. MC won a penalty-filled game in Rye 11-2. The teams each had nine penalties in the games for 71 minutes. The Monarchs took a 1-0 lead in Pittston before the Valiants scored four unanswered to come away with a 4-1 victory late in the season.
• Senior Oscar Arfelt was named the UCHC Player of the Week and the MAC Offensive Player of the Week after leading the Valiants to a 3-1 victory over Connecticut College with the game-winning goal and an assist. The forward has one goal and six assists this season with all seven of his points coming in the past five games.
• Matt Lippa has a team-leading eight points on three goals and five assists. The senior had his five-game point streak broken on Saturday against CC.
• Cory Anderson is the Valiants' leading goal-scorer with four. The forward has a season-high three points on two goals and one assist against Chatham two weeks ago.
• Sophomore Mac Vail is sixth in Division III with a 1.25 GAA in 239:16 minutes of action between the pipes. His .938 save percentage is ranked 15th and has a perfect 1.000 winning percentage (4-0-0). Tyler Feaver is 0-1-2 in three games with a 3.48 GAA and a .876 save percentage.
• The high-scoring Valiant offense has scored 3.43 goals per game which is tied for 22nd in the nation. Their scoring margin of 1.14 is tied for 21st.
• M'Ville is also 21st in the nation in penalty minutes per game with 16.1. The Valiants have conceded five power play goals on 33 opportunities

 
Up Next: King's will face two more opponents that are receiving votes in the polls next weekend when they host Nazareth College and defending UCHC Champion Utica College to wrap up the first half of the season. The Monarchs will face the Golden Flyers of NC on Friday night at 7 p.m. before taking on the Pioneers on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. in Pittston at Revolution Ice Centre.