WILKES-BARRE, PA (September 1, 2018) – The King's College men's soccer team put together another quality showing to start the season on Saturday afternoon but an 77th minute goal by Arcadia University gave the Knights a 1-0 victory over the Monarchs on Saturday afternoon at McCarthy Stadium.

Arcadia (1-1) came out strong in the first couple minutes of the game and had the first opportunity to score early in the sixth minute when the Knights drew a foul right inside the box to receive a penalty kick. However, King's keeper Owen Geedey denied Ryan Hammer's attempt with a diving save to his right.

Following the great save by Geedey, King's controlled possession for much of the first half. The Monarchs had good looks at the goal in the eighth and 10th minutes but headers by Liam McLoughlin and Pat Holton sailed just wide.

Seven minutes later, Matthew Hesse took a free kick from a little outside the box on the left wing, but Knights keeper Jake Varrato had no trouble hauling it in for a save. Sean Murray found space in the 22nd minute to get a shot off but it was knocked away by Varrato. King's was able to keep the ball on their offensive side of the field for much of the rest of the half putting the pressure on the Knight defense. August Axtman had a great shot on goal a couple minutes before halftime but Varrato made a great diving save to keep the game scoreless.

KC came out strong to begin the second half as Aidan DeCamillo found open space to get a shot off 36 seconds in, but it was blocked by a defender and over the end line for a corner kick. McLoughlin broke loose of defenders in the 55th minute but his shot was denied by Varrato.

The Knight responded in the 57th minute when Harun Abdullahi attempted a bicycle kick in the middle of the box off a cross from the left side but Geedey had no problems corralling it in for a save. Abdullahi had another good look at goal in the 65th minute with a header the Geedey was able to keep out of the back of the net.

Abdullahi was able to find the upper left corner of the net on his third attempt of the game after shaking off a couple defenders near the top of the box and unleashing a shot from the right side that just was out of the reach of Geedey. The Monarchs had an opportunity to even the score late in the game but Varrato made another great save off an attempt by Sean Murray.

King's outshot the Knights 11-7 in the game including a 7-1 advantage in the first half. The Monarchs also held a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks. Jake Varrato finished the game with five saves for Arcadia while Owen Geedey had four for the Monarchs.

Despite the two tough losses this weekend coach Mark Bassett is pleased with the way the team has played to begin the season. There were a lot of positives from both games. The Monarchs dominated possession for much of the two games with good defense and had plenty of opportunities to score but were just unfortunately able to find the back of the net. "We played two quality opponents in Alvernia and Arcadia this weekend" Bassett said after the game. The Golden Wolves and Knights are expected to quality for the MAC Commonwealth Tournament at the end of the season. "I was happy with the way our defense played this weekend" Bassett also stated. Offensively the Monarchs had their chances to score but were unfortunately unable to find the back of the net.

The Monarchs will have another tough test on Wednesday in their first road match of the year when they travel up 81 to face Scranton at 4 p.m. on the Royals' brand new Weiss Field.