ST. DAVIDS, PA (November 9, 2019) --- The fourth-seeded King's College men's soccer team put together a valiant effort on Saturday afternoon in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom Championship match but the host and second-seeded Eagles of Eastern scored two second half goals to defeat the Monarchs 3-1 from Olson Field in St. Davids.
The Monarchs see their excellent season end with a 15-5-1 while falling in the MAC Freedom Final at Olson Field for the second straight season. King's finishes the year with a program record nine road victories. Eastern earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in their final year playing in the MAC Freedom and will enter the tournament with an 11-9-1 record.
The Monarchs came out strong as
Alastair Dinnan got loose down the left side and forced EU keeper Anthony Hitchcock to make a save on a shot headed for the upper left. KC kept the pressure on and
Kyle Shalvey found the back of the net early in the fourth minute to give the Monarchs the lead.
Aziz Atiyeh sent a long throw in from the right side into the box to Shalvey who had an excellent finish on the ball sending it to the back of the net.
Nik Verma nearly increased the lead a couple minutes later as Hitchcock came away with a big save to keep the Monarch advantage at one. The Eagles settled in and responded with a strong offensive attack against the Monarch defense.
Connor McKeown was even stronger in goal for King's as he denied a trio of shots. The hosts kept the pressure on KC and were able to even the score in the 21st minute as Nik Koklios scored off a cross by Sam Sutherland. The teams battled back and forth for the remaining 24 minutes of the half in a defensive battle.
Jake Sankey nearly gave the Eagles an early second half lead with a blast on goal in the 52nd minute. His first attempt was blocked by the Monarch defense and then his second effort was corralled by McKeown. MAC Freedom Rookie of the Year Derek Buhrman gave the Eagles the lead in the 62nd minute with his eighth goal of the season off an assist by Julio Ardon. King's fought hard to even the score up as
Ryan Romeo put a shot on goal off a corner kick in the 63rd minute. Hitchcock was able to knock the ball away for a save. The Eagles scored an insurance goal in the 67th minute as Alex McGlynn snuck a ball into the back of the net off another assist by Ardon.
King's fought valiantly the rest of the way but were unable to get the ball past the EU defense and Hitchcock. The Eagles finished the match with a slim 16-15 shot advantage but had a larger 12-5 advantage in shots on goal. McKeown made a career high nine saves for King's while his counterpart, Hitchcock, made four. The Eagles also held an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks. Shalvey scored his third goal of the season for the Monarchs while Atiyeh recorded his fourth assist.
The Monarchs finish the year with 46 goals scored and 31 assists. The defensive unit allowed just 23 goals in 21 matches and 8.5 shots per match.
--MONARCHS--
