SELINSGROVE, PA (September 8, 2018) – The King's College field hockey team scored a goal in each half and used a strong defensive effort to shutout Susquehanna University 2-0 on Saturday afternoon at Sassafras Field in Selinsgrove.

The victory over the River Hawks was the program's first since a 4-1 victory in Wilkes-Barre in 2013 and their first victory in Selinsgrove since 2012. King's and Susquehanna have had plenty of tightly contested battles over the past few years and this year was no different.

King's (1-2) earned two penalty corners in the fourth minute of the game but were unable to get off a shot. Defense dominated the early part of the game as neither team was able to get a shot on goal until the 18th minute. Susquehanna's (1-3) Hayley Adams was the first to get a shot on goal in the game which King's keeper Brianne Maluda was able to keep out of the cage. A follow up shot by Adams went wide.

The Monarchs responded on the other end of the field by earning a penalty corner. Kelley O'Keefe sent to penalty corner into play and had the ball passes back to her for a shot towards cage but the SU keeper was there to make the save. King's kept the pressure up and earned another penalty corner at the 23:07 mark. Once again, they were able to get a shot off after the corner, but Maryrose Mauro's attempt went wide.

Mauro would have another attempt off a penalty corner late in the 31st minute that was blocked by a Susquehanna defender. The Monarchs earned another corner following the blocked shot and finally broke through the River Hawk defense off the corner attempt. O'Keefe gave the Monarchs the lead with her first goal of the year off an assist by Kelsey Gabriele. Susquehanna got a chance to tie the game up right before halftime but Maluda saved a shot by Vivian Simone.

The teams kept up the defensive pressure in the second half. The Monarchs recorded the first shot of the half at the 40:37 mark when Rachel Zultevicz had her shot saved by Emily DiGaetano. The River Hawks responded with a strong offensive attack over the course of the next 10 minutes. Susquehanna earned three penalty corners and got off five shots in that timespan. Maluda made three saves, one shot was blocked, and the fifth went wide.

The Monarchs called a timeout to regroup and it worked as King's earned a corner of their own. Mauro had her shot following the corner saved by DiGaetano. KC was able to increase their lead to 2-0 with 5:42 remaining in the match when Gabriele scored her 31st career goal.

The River Hawks called a timeout following the goal. After the timeout, SU had three shots on goal in a span of 15 seconds but Maluda knocked all three away preserving her first career shutout. The Monarchs had an opportunity to score again at the end of the game but a shot by Jolee Treslar was saved and then an attempt by Gabriele was blocked.

Kelsey Gabriele had one goal and one assist while taking two shots to lead the Monarchs. Kelley O'Keefe scored a goal on two shots. Taylor Runo, Natalie Muscatell, Connie Mangino, and Jennifer Smalley led a strong defensive effort for the Monarchs while Brianne Maluda made eight saves.

King's will return home to host Muhlenberg College on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the team's first game of the year at McCarthy Stadium.