WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 8, 2019) --- The King's College men's soccer team rebounded from a tough conference loss on Saturday with a great non-conference victory over visiting Rutgers-Camden on Tuesday evening by a score of 2-0 at McCarthy Stadium in Wilkes-Barre.
The Monarchs (9-3-0) put together one of their most complete team efforts of the season thus far against a strong Scarlet Raptor (9-4-1) side that had previously beaten two ranked teams earlier this season. King's got off to a great start earning their first corner kick of the match in the third minute.
August Axtman nearly scored off the corner heading the ball towards the right post, but Rutgers-Camden keeper Kieran Burns was able to grab the ball before it crossed over the goal line.
The Scarlet Raptors responded with a strong offensive attack that pressured the Monarch defense. Kaito Kitazawa put the first RUC shot of the match on goal with an attempt right at
Connor McKeown off a corner kick in the 11th minute. KC countered the strong attack with an even stronger defensive performance as they started to build momentum while trying to catch the Raptors on counter attacks.
Fabio Massa had a great look at the net in the 19th minute as his shot went high and right of the net. A couple minutes later
Alastair Dinnan received the ball on the left side and took the ball inside the box where he sent a shot towards the goal. Burns was able to knock the ball away and over the goal line for a corner kick.
The Monarchs finally were able to break through in the 35th minute as
Aidan DeCamillo received a pass in the middle of the pitch on King's offensive half. He then fought off a defender and sent a pass to the left wing for
Justin Decoteau. The freshman forward settled the ball and took a dribble into the box before unleashing a beautiful curving ball into the upper right for his second goal of the season. Following the goal DeCamillo looked to double the lead as he stole another pass in King's offensive end and found space for an open shot at the net. Unfortunately, his attempt went right of the post as King's took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.
King's came out of the break with the ball and put immediate pressure of the Raptors. KC found Massa open in the middle of the field for a great look in the 47th minute but his attempt sailed wide right. In the 57th minute
Kyle Shalvey had his shot in the box blocked,
Aidan Oyler picked up the rebound and sent a shot through the football uprights. Oyler would give the Monarchs a great scoring opportunity in the 60th minute as he drew a hard foul in the box for a penalty kick. Senior captain
August Axtman stepped up and calmly gave KC a 2-0 lead with his seventh goal of the season and 21st of his career. The defender is not a perfect 3-for-3 on PKs this season and has 13 penalty kick goals in his career.
Over the last 30 minutes of play the Monarchs kept the pressure on the Scarlet Raptors not allowing the visitors a good look at net.
Nik Verma nearly scored King's third goal of the match in the 76th minute as his attempt from inside the box went off the left post and into the arms of Burns. The Raptors had two shots at net in the final 10 minutes of play but neither one troubled the Monarchs. In the 82nd minute Kaito Kitazawa sent a shot to the lower left that McKeown made easy work of and then Michael Funaro sent a shot high a minute later.
KC held a 16-6 shot advantage including 10-2 in the second half. The Monarchs put six shots on goal compared to just two by the Raptors. King's also held a 6-5 advantage in corner kicks taken.
The Monarchs will return to conference play on Saturday with a road match at Delaware Valley University. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 pm at James Work Memorial Stadium in Doylestown.
--MONARCHS--
