WILKES-BARRE, PA (February 13, 2019) – The King's College men's ice hockey team will wrap up their second season this weekend with a pair of United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) games at Utica College and Nazareth College.
 
Event Details
Opponent: at RV/#15 Utica College (15-6-2, 12-3-1 UCHC)
Date: Friday February 15, 2019
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Utica, NY – Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 
Opponent: at Nazareth College (10-7-6, 7-5-4 UCHC)
Date: Saturday February 16, 2019
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Location: Rochester, NY – Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 
Last Time Out: King's played their final two games on home ice this season falling to Manhattanville and Neumann by scores of 5-1 and 6-1. Luciano Bucci scored an unassisted short-handed goal against the Valiants and added an assist against the Knights. Jamie Lukas redirected Bucci's shot for his team-leading eighth goal in the third period. Brandon Daigle made 42 saves against M'Ville and 32 against the Knights. Five of the 11 goals he allowed over the weekend were power play goals.
 
Utica went on the road to pick up a pair of victories over Chatham and Stevenson by scores on 5-1 and 5-2. Gregg Burmaster led the way against the Cougars with two goals and an assist while Brett Everson had one goal and three assists. Gianluca Baggetta stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced. Burmaster added a hat trick and one assist against the Mustangs while Daniel Fritz had four assists. Baggetta made 31 saves in net.
 
Nazareth split their weekend road games dropping the opener 3-0 at Stevenson before defeating Chatham 8-2 in Pittsburgh. The Golden Flyers opened up a close 2-1 game in the second period with six straight goals including four power play goals. The Cougars scored with two seconds left to set the final. James McDonald had two goals while Jacob Paluch added a goal and two assists. Michael Tilford made 22 saves in goal. Sean Kuhn made 29 saves in the loss at Stevenson on Friday night.
 
The Book On The Monarchs (1-22-0, 1-15-0 UCHC, 0-8-0 MAC):

• King's will wrap up their second season of play this weekend against two teams looking to solidify their postseason positions.
• The Monarchs played very well against both teams earlier this season in Pittston. King's was 16.7 seconds away from a big upset over Nazareth before the Golden Flyers scored an extra attacker goal to send the game to overtime and then scored again with 1:18 left for a 2-1 victory. The next day Brandon Daigle made 54 saves in a 3-0 loss to the Pioneers.
• Luciano Bucci leads the team in scoring with 15 points on six goals and nine assists after a two-point weekend. Bucci has five points while King's is on the power play with one goal and four assists. The sophomore has also won the most faceoffs on the team going 232-187 for a .554 win percentage.
• Bucci's third short-handed goal of the year last weekend moved him up to a tied for third in the nation. The sophomore is also tied for second in the UCHC with 0.13 short-handed goals per game.
• Senior Jamie Lukas is one of just three skaters to play in all 48 games the Monarchs have played. Bucci and Cameron Anklewich are the other two skaters. This year he leads the team in goals scored with eight. Half of his goals were power play goals. In November the senior had a program record streak of four straight games with a goal.
• Brandon Daigle has been fantastic in net for most of the season after taking over the starting job in mid-November. The freshman has a 4.41 GAA with a .896 save percentage in 17 games. He has made 614 saves in 966:52 minutes.
• Seniors Nicholas Palumbo and Nicholas Gullo will close out their collegiate hockey careers this weekend. Palumbo has been strong defensively for the Monarchs in his two years at KC and is fourth on the team this season with one goal and four assists for five points. Gullo has skated in 22 games this year and scored one goal while taking 19 shots.
• The Monarchs are ranked 30th with 15.2 penalty minutes per game. King's has been successful on 92 of 121 penalty kills this year and have scored four short-handed goals.

The Book On The Pioneers (15-6-2, 12-3-1 UCHC):

• Utica moved back into the D3hockey.com Top 15 this week at number 15 and are still receiving votes in the USCHO Poll. The Pioneers are looking to wrap up their second straight UCHC regular season title with a win over the Monarchs on Friday. UC is currently atop the standings with a three-point lead over Wilkes, who the Pioneers will face in the regular season finale on Saturday.
• The Pioneers are on a three-game winning streak and haven't lost since a 4-3 defeat at Neumann nearly a month ago on January 18. UC is 7-1-2 in the second half of the season.
• Utica has won all three meetings with King's though the Monarchs have played the Pioneers tough all three times. Last year UC won by scores of 6-1 and 8-3 prior to winning the Inaugural UCHC Championship.
• The Monarch defense will face another highly-ranked offense as Utica enters the weekend second in the conference and 10th in the nation with 4.00 goals per game. The Pioneers have scored 92 goals in 23 games. They also have a top-10 ranked defense and their scoring margin of 2.13 is ranked sixth.
• Co-UCHC Player of the Week Gregg Burmaster has 30 points on 13 goals and 17 assists after a big seven points on five goals and two assists last weekend. Burmaster score UC's final two goals in the victory over King's earlier this year. The senior is 29th in the nation and seventh in the UCHC with his average of 1.30 points per game.
• Zach Borsoi is second on the team with 21 points on nine goals and 12 assists. The senior has five power play goals this year. Freshman Regen Cavanagh has three game-winning goals which is tied for 24th in the nation.
• Senior Shawn Lynch adds 20 points on seven goals and 13 assists. Brett Everson scored the game-winning goal against the Monarchs earlier this season and assisted on the other two goals. He has 19 points on five goals and 14 assists while Daniel Fritz also has 19 points on two goals and 17 assists.
• Gianluca Baggetta is fifth in goals against average at 1.63 and third in save percentage at .945. The junior has recorded an 11-3-2 record this season with three shutouts. Freshman Sean Dickson has also been good in goal with a 4-3-0 record, a 2.08 GAA, and a .925 save percentage with two shutouts.
• The Pioneers are averaging 13.3 penalty minutes per game and have one of the best penalty kills at 89.3 percent which is ranked sixth. Utica has scored six short-handed goals this year in 103 penalty kills.

The Book On The Golden Flyers (10-7-6, 7-5-4 UCHC):

• After a great first half of the season, Nazareth has struggled in the second half of conference play going 2-3-2 heading into this weekend. The Golden Flyers are just 3-6-2 since they last played the Monarchs in December.
• Despite the struggles Nazareth will likely clinch a berth into the UCHC playoffs this weekend. The Flyers are currently fifth, three points ahead of Neumann and five points clear of Stevenson in seventh. NC just needs a win or tie in either one of their games against Wilkes or King's or Stevenson to lose or tie just one game. Nazareth could be locked into the fifth seed by the time of puck drop between the two teams on Saturday.
• King's has played better against the Golden Flyers every time they have faced them. After an 8-1 victory to start the series history last year, the Monarchs went up to Rochester and lost 6-2 before Nazareth needed overtime and a come-back to defeat KC 2-1 earlier this year.
• David Powlowski leads the team with 20 points on nine goals and 11 assists. The senior has recorded at least one point in 13 of 23 games this season. Five of his goals have been power play goals.
• Senior J.R. Wojciechowski is tied for 24th in points by a defenseman with 18 on four goals and 14 assists. Wojciechowski has recorded most of his points in conference play with all four goals and 11 assists of his assists coming in UCHC games.
• Brian Miller and Jacob Paluch have recorded 15 points each. Miller has five goals and 10 assists while Paluch has one goal and 14 assists. Miller assisted on the game-winning goal against the Monarchs earlier this year.
• Sean Kuhn is 4-4-4 in 14 games for the Golden Flyers with a 2.31 GAA and a .929 save percentage. The sophomore has made 408 saves including 20 against the Monarchs earlier this year. Michael Tilford has also seen action in net going 4-2-2 with a 2.54 GAA and a .920 save percentage.
• Nazareth is averaging 13.2 penalty minutes per game and have allowed 21 power play goals on 97 penalty kills.