PITTSTON, PA (February 8, 2019) – Sophomore Luciano Bucci made sure the King's College men's ice hockey team wouldn't be shutout on Senior Night with a late short-handed goal in a 5-1 defeat to visiting Manhattanville College in a Friday evening United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) and Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) contest from the Revolution Ice Centre in Pittston.

The first graduating class of the program were honored pregame as the Monarchs play their final home games of the year this weekend. Seniors Jamie Lukas, Nicholas Gullo, Nicholas Palumbo, and Jake Tugnutt were recognized in lieu of the starting lineup in the pregame introductions.

Once the game got underway the Monarchs (1-21-0, 1-14-0 UCHC, 0-8-0 MAC) skated hard against the visiting Valiants (13-7-3, 9-4-3 UCHC, 5-1-1 MAC) but were done in by three power play goals. Manhattanville entered the game with the eighth-ranked scoring offense in Division III and needed a victory over the Monarchs to clinch a UCHC playoff spot and stay in contention for the MAC title. The Valiants entered the game with the 10th-ranked power play unit in the nation and moved up to seventh with their three goals in eight chances.

King's kept MC off the board until 11:05 of the period when Axel Walltott ripped a shot into the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season. The goal came as the Monarchs were fighting off a five-on-three. King's had their first skater leave the penalty box just before M'Ville scored the goal.

The Valiants increased their lead 36 seconds into the second period with another power play goal as Marco Ferraro found the back of the net for his seventh goal of the season. Eric Berglund, Ken McLean, and Matt Lippa also scored in a big second period for the Valiants as they took a 5-0 lead.

The Monarchs fought hard in the third period and were finally rewarded in the final minute when Bucci stole the puck in the Valiant zone and skated down the ice on a breakaway. The sophomore put a nice move on the Valiant goalie and knocked in his sixth goal of the year.

Brandon Daigle had another outstanding performance in net making 42 saves including stopping 25 of 26 shots in the first period. Gullo took two shots and was excellent in the faceoff circle winning 11 of his 19 attempts. Lukas also recorded two shots and won one of his two faceoff attempts. Cameron Anklewich and Tyler O'Mara added two shots and nine faceoff wins each. Bucci won 11 of 16 faceoffs while scoring on his only shot of the game. He is now tied for third in Division III with three short-handed goals this season. King's saw success in the faceoff circle winning 42 and losing 41.

The Valiants were led by Lippa with one goal and three assists. McLean added a goal and two assists while Ferraro and Berglund had a goal and an assist each. Oscar Arfelt recorded two assists from his defensive position. Tyler Feaver made 14 saves for his eighth win of the season.

Each team recorded nine penalties in the game with Manhattanville scoring three times on eight power play opportunities and holding the Monarchs scoreless on all seven of theirs.

King's will now close out the home portion of their schedule tomorrow afternoon with a 5:30 p.m. puck drop against Neumann University. The Monarchs defeated the Knights 2-1 back in November for the program's first victory. Neumann, who has been surging lately, dropped out of the sixth and final UCHC playoff spot on Friday night with a 5-4 loss at UCHC co-leader Wilkes.