WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 5, 2019) --- The King's College men's soccer team put together another strong effort on Saturday afternoon at McCarthy Stadium but a 74th minute goal by visiting Eastern University was the difference in a 1-0 loss to the Eagles in the first Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) match of the year.

In a rematch of last year's title match, the Monarchs (8-3-0, 0-1-0 MAC Freedom) came out strong looking for revenge on the Eagles (5-6-1, 1-0-0). Matthew Hesse put the first shot of the match on goal in the seventh minute as Anthony Hitchcock was able to corral his blast from distance. A couple minutes later Kyle Shalvey sent a shot towards the lower right that Hitchcock was just able to keep out of the back of the net. The Monarchs had a couple more looks at the net in the first 45 minutes but each attempt was off the mark as KC outshot the Eagles 6-1 in the half. Eastern's lone shot of the half came late in the 25th minute when Emmanuel Hewitt sent a ball through the football uprights. Despite outshooting the Eagles in the half, EU held possession for 53 percent of the time.

King's did a better job of maintaining possession in the second half while outshooting the Eagles 6-3 in the final 45. Hitchcock was needed in the 61st minute as Quentin Szeker-Cortes nearly found the lower left. Hitchcock, however, was able to knock the ball away for a Monarch corner kick. Eastern managed to find the back of the net in the 74th minute following a long free kick into the box. Connor McKeown came out of net to knock away the free kick towards the outside of the box. Unfortunately for King's it bounced right to Aidan Link near the top of the box. Link headed the ball back towards the goal where it found the back of the net.

The Monarchs fought back valiantly over the final 17 minutes of play but were unable to get anything past EU's All-Conference keeper. Aidan Oyler and Matthew Hesse each had rockets from outside the box knocked away. King's had one final attempt at the tying goal in the final seconds but Fabio Massa's attempt from the top of the box deflected off an Eastern defender.

KC finished with a 12-4 shot advantage including 5-1 on goal. The Monarchs won the possession battle controlling the ball for 51 percent of the time and took five corner kicks while defending four.

The team will look to rebound from the tough loss on Tuesday when they host a strong Rutgers-Camden team in the final home non-conference match of the season. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 pm at McCarthy Stadium.