WILKES-BARRE, PA (November 7, 2019) --- The King's College women's ice hockey team will begin their third season of competition this weekend with expectations of taking another step forward to being a championship caliber program.

Interim head coach Brice Baricevic is expecting this group to compete in every game and play hard as a team for all 60 minutes of each game. He also expects the team to be fast on the ice leading to scoring more goals and winning more games. The Monarchs return 15 skaters from last year's squad that won the program's first game and went 1-23-1. The squad added six new faces including a transfer.

FORWARDS
Junior Josée Aitken is the team's leading returning scorer with six points on two goals and four assists. Aitken has been very good on the ice in her first two years skating in all 48 games and recording 16 points on nine goals and seven assists. Sophomore Maggie Gould was one of the top goal scorers on the team last year with four goals including two power play goals and one assist. She will look to use her speed on the ice to score even more goals this year. The Monarchs also return the junior trio of Mary Deyell, Caitlin Redden, and Raeann Clancey. All three skaters recorded three points last year mostly playing on different lines. Deyell, the captain of the team, scored two goals including a power play goal and had an assist. She has also skated in all 48 games recording 10 points on three goals and seven assists in her career. Redden skated in 21 games last year scoring one goal and adding two assists. In 44 career games she has seven points on four goals and three assists. Clancey has the distinction of scoring King's first-ever game-winning goal as she lit the lamp for the first time in her career in the season opener against Wilkes a year ago. The junior has skated in 48 career games and has four points on one goal and three assists.

Alycia Sandella along with sophomores Tessa Schaefer-Flynn and Alexa Kovaly are expected to see an expanded role and more ice time in the offense this season. Sandella skated in 21 games last year and has seen action in 27 total games in her two years at KC. Schaefer-Flynn skated in all 25 games a year ago while Kobaly saw the ice in 23 games. The Monarchs brought in four freshmen to add to the attack this year and will look for immediate contributions from all four. Kateri Heithaus is from Florissant, Missouri and played for AAA Dallas Stars Elite last year. Charlotte McClanahan is a native of Pine Island, New York and played for the Washingtonville Wizards. Emma Knoll played for Nashville Girls Hockey and is from Hendersonville, Tennessee. The Monarchs also have another local product on the team in Alyssa Cussatt from nearby Drums, Pennsylvania. Cussatt graduated from Hazleton Area Academy of Science and played for the Hershey Jr. Bears.

DEFENSE
The Monarchs return all five of their defenders while adding one new face. Assistant captain Erin King is looking to lead the defense once again after recording three assists last year as a freshman. The sophomore transitioned to taking most of the team's faceoffs late in the season winning 61 of 143 attempts. Meghan Mietlicki was named to the All-Middle Atlantic Conference Team last year as a freshman after recording four assists and blocking 73 shots. She was ranked tied for eighth in points by a defenseman in the MAC and was also tied for sixth in freshman scoring.

Juniors Morgan Almon, Kelly Tuffy, and Sarah Lawson are also back for the Monarchs and will be looked to solidify the back line with their experience. Almon has skated in all 48 games during her first two season and has three points on one goal and two assists. She scored her first career goal last season against Lebanon Valley. Tuffy has also skated in all 48 games during her career recording an assist each year. Lawson saw the ice in 22 games last year and has skated in 41 games during her first two season. The Monarchs also expect Ali Noeding to aid the defensive unit this year in her first season. Noeding is a product of CT Northern Lights and from Washington, Connecticut.

GOALIES
King's returns two strong goaltenders in juniors Kiva Sierra Stoltz and Emma Zeveney. The duo has split time in net for the first two years while recording nearly identical numbers. Stoltz made 537 saves last year while recording the program's first victory. She has made 1015 saves in her career with a .873 save percentage in 29 games. Zeveney has 1011 saves in 31 games during her career with a .880 save percentage. She made 557 of those saves last year while recording a .873 save percentage in 17 games. Hannah Bowers, a transfer from Rochester Institute of Technology, is also expected to challenge Stoltz and Zeveney for time in between the pipes. Bowers is from Shillington, Pennsylvania and played for the Exton Elite U19 prior to attending RIT.
 
The first two weeks of the season will be tough for the Monarchs as they face four of the teams that were picked to finish in the top five in the UCHC Preseason Poll including the top two this weekend. KC will open on the road at William Smith on Saturday before heading to third-ranked Elmira College on Sunday. Next weekend the squad will host Utica College and Nazareth College at the Rev.