WILKES-BARRE, PA (January 29, 2019) – The King's College men's ice hockey team will only have to travel a couple blocks this week as the Monarchs will take on United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) and Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) leaders Wilkes University on Thursday night at the Toyota Sportsplex at Coal Street Park.
 
Event Details
Opponent: at Wilkes University (13-5-1, 9-3-1 UCHC, 5-1-0 MAC)
Date: Thursday January 31, 2019
Time: 7:15 p.m.
Location: Wilkes-Barre, PA – Toyota Sportsplex at Coal Street Park (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 
Last Time Out: King's dropped a pair of games last weekend at Stevenson and Chatham. The Mustangs defeated the Monarchs 7-0 in a penalty filled game on Friday night before the Cougars won by a score of 4-0 on Saturday night in Pittsburgh. Jake Tugnutt made 38 saves against Stevenson while Brandon Daigle made 37 saves against Chatham. KC equaled their season-high in shots with 29 on Saturday night against CU.
 
Wilkes defeated Chatham 1-0 on Friday before having their eight-game unbeaten streak broken with a 3-2 overtime loss at Stevenson on Saturday afternoon. Angelo Marquart scored the lone goal in the second period against the Cougars as Brandon Gordon made 20 saves in goal to pick up the shutout. Devon Schell and Brendan Logan scored in the third period against the Mustangs as it looked like the Colonels were going to pick up another come-from-behind win. However, the host Mustangs scored with 49 seconds left to send the game into overtime and then scored again 33 seconds into the extra session to hand Wilkes their first MAC loss. Gordon made 29 saves in the game.
 
The Book On The Monarchs (1-19-0, 1-12-0 UCHC, 0-6-0 MAC):

• The Monarch offense were unable to score on Saturday's despite taking their season-high number of shots with 29. King's has reached that number in two of their last three game.
• Prior to the two games this weekend, KC recorded their third-highest scoring output of the season with three goals and five assists in an overtime loss at Lebanon Valley last Wednesday.
• After playing three games in four days and traveling over 900 miles in the process the Monarchs will have their shortest road trip on the season this season on Thursday before playing their final two home games of the year next weekend. The Toyota Sportsplex is just one mile from the Scanlon Gymnasium and the King's College campus.
• Luciano Bucci leads the team in scoring with 13 points on five goals and three assists. The sophomore has also won the most faceoffs on the team going 196-164 for a .544 percentage.
• Bucci is one of three skaters who have played in all 45 games in program history. Sophomore Cameron Anklewich and senior Jamie Lukas are the other two.
• Lukas scored his team-leading seventh goal while recording his 20th career point against the Flying Dutchmen last week. In November the senior had a program record streak of four straight games with a goal. Anklewich sent the LVC game into overtime with his first goal of the year last week. Alex Bastone scored the first goal of his collegiate career and assisted on King's first goal against the Dutchmen.
• Christian La Croix has been very dangerous on the power play this year as the sophomore has three goals and one assist while taking a team-leading 23 shots when King's is on a power play opportunity. Overall, La Croix has scored five goals and taken 43 shots in 15 games.
• Assistant captain Tommy Green put his name into the record books with the game-winning goal against Neumann. The sophomore scored with 2:29 left off assists by Matt Amelio and Anklewich.
• Freshman Michael DiSchiavi has made an impressive start to his career with four assists in 17 games. He has also been great on faceoffs winning 17 of his 25 attempts for a team-leading .680 percentage.
• Brandon Daigle has seen most of the action in goal this season. The freshman has a 4.27 GAA in net with a .899 save percentage in 14 games. He has made 497 saves including 21 in the first meeting this season against the Colonels.
• The Monarchs are averaging 14.8 penalty minutes per game. King's has been successful on 80 of 104 penalty kills this year and have scored three short-handed goals including two by Bucci.

The Book On The Colonels (13-5-1, 9-3-1 UCHC, 5-1-0 MAC):

• Wilkes has been very impressive in their inaugural season. The Colonels sit atop the UCHC and MAC standings with six games left to play this season. WU can clinch the MAC title with a victory over the Monarchs on Thursday.
• The Colonels had their eight-game unbeaten streak that helped them rise to the top of the conference standings broken on Saturday as Stevenson handed them their first MAC loss.
• WU scored a goal in each period to defeat the Monarchs earlier this season in the first-ever meeting between the programs. The Monarch defense held the Colonels to 24 shots in the game, which is a program record for King's. KC won 28 of the 43 faceoffs in the game.
• Donald Flynn leads the team in scoring with 28 points on 11 goals and 17 assists. The forward is tied for 13th in Division III in points per game, tied for 14th in assists per game, and tops the nation in points per game by a freshman. He has recorded a point in 14 of 19 games this season.
• Tyler Barrow has also scored 11 goals while adding 16 assists for 27 points. He is right behind Flynn in the national rankings. Barrow has scored seven of his 11 goals on the power play which is tied for the third most in Division III. He has recorded at least one point in 16 of 19 games.
• Tyson Araujo and Nick Fea have tallied 22 points each this year. Araujo has eight goals and 14 assists while Fea has seven goals and 15 assists. Phil Erickson led the Colonels in the first meeting against King's with a goal and an assist. The freshman is tied for second in the nation with three short-handed goals this season.
• Brandon Gordon has made 386 saves while facing 435 shots in 17 games in net. The freshman has a 2.87 GAA and a .887 save percentage.
• Wilkes is tied for ninth in scoring with UCHC foe Utica at 3.95 goals per game. The Colonels have been very strong in the third period scoring 34 of their 75 goals. WU has recorded four wins in eight occurrences this year when entering the third period behind and are 8-2-1 when opponents score the first goal.
• The Colonels are third in Division III with 18.3 penalty minutes per game and have allowed 24 power play goals on 123 opportunities.
• WU has scored 22 power play goals on 105 chances. They have a combined special teams percentage of 53.1.

Up Next: King's will play their final home games of the year when they host Manhattanville College and Neumann University to Revolution Ice Centre next weekend. The Monarchs will honor Jamie Lukas, Nicholas Gullo, Nicholas Palumbo, and Jake Tugnutt during the program's first Senior Day on Saturday against the Knights.