WILKES-BARRE, PA (March 28, 2019) – The King's College women's lacrosse team will look to continue its strong play at home this season on Saturday afternoon, taking on Ramapo College at 1 p.m. in non-conference action against the Roadrunners. The game will be the 2019 Crosse Out Cancer game, as the Monarchs raise money to help the fight against cancer. King's will then turnaround and take on Marywood University Sunday in a make-up contest of an earlier cancelled contest.

Event Details
Opponent: vs. Ramapo College (5-2, 0-0 NJAC)
Date: Saturday, March 30, 2019
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Wilkes-Barre, PA – McCarthy Stadium (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Video) (Live Stats)

Opponent: at Marywood University (4-4, 0-0 Atlantic East)
Date: Sunday, March 31, 2019
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Scranton, PA – Marywood Turf Field  (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats)

Last Time Out: King's College freshman Jen O'Connor posted five goals, four caused turnovers and 12 draw controls to lead the Monarch women's lacrosse team to their first road win of the 2019 season, knocking off host Juniata College 15-6 in non-conference action Wednesday evening.

It was the best defensive game of the season for the Monarchs, who held the Eagles (5-5) to just 15 shots on the game. King's wasted no time getting the lead, as O'Connor won the first draw and the ensuing possession ended in a goal from Mary Kate Klodarska on an assist from Kylie McCarthy for the 1-0 lead.

The hosts would fight back with two goals from Paige Riker, taking a 2-1 lead with 21:39 to go in the opening half. The Monarchs (3-6) would tie the game just under four minutes later, as O'Connor scored her first of the game off a nice feed from Klodarska. Less than a minute later, King's regained its lead as Brianna Raucci got her first goal of what was a huge day for the freshman to make it 3-2 with 17:04 to go in the first half.

After a turnover by Juniata caused by junior Kelly Pierce, the Monarchs took advantage as Bailey Jordan tallied on a free position shot, her fourth of the season to make it 4-2. The 5-0 run for the Monarchs would finish with another Raucci goal on an assist from McCarthy to make it 6-2 with 7:52 left in the first. The hosts would tack on one more before the break, sending the game into halftime with the score 6-3 in favor of KC.

After halftime, Natalie Gibson pulled the Eagles to within two at 6-4 on a man-up goal with 24:46 to play. On the next possession, Juniata nearly made it a one-goal game, but sophomore Orla Cottell made a nice save. Following turnovers by both teams, freshman Emily Sims would get the offensive unit going for the Monarchs with her first of the game to make it 7-4.

The two teams exchanged goals over the next few minutes, but with the score 8-5 the Monarchs would go on a run that would put the game away. McCarthy scored at 15:42 of the game from Klodarska, which ignited a stretch of seven straight scores for the Monarchs. During the span, King's scored four goals over 2:24, thanks to four straight draw control wins.

Sims would finish the run that she started with her second goal of the game and 13th of the season to make it 15-5. That would be plenty for King's, which picked up its third win of the year. The Monarchs outshot their hosts 37-15 on the day, while possessing 19 of the 23 draw controls on the day.

It was a breakout game for Raucci, who finished the game with four goals on four shots. The freshman came into the game with two goals on the season, as she tripled her season total Wednesday. McCarthy and Klodarska each had three assists to lead King's, while Klodarska finished with two goals and seven shots as well.

The young Monarchs also saw Sims post two goals and an assist in addition to four draw controls, and Pierce finished with two draw controls and a caused turnover. Cottell allowed six goals but posted seven stops and a caused turnover in the win.

A Look At The Monarchs (3-6, 0-0 MAC Freedom):

• The Monarchs have played the most games of any team in the MAC Freedom thus far, scoring 90 goals, the fourth-most in the conference.
• King's has posted 41 assists, which ranks third in the MAC Freedom, as it's 4.56 assists per game is fourth-most in the league.
• King's continues to shoot the ball at a high percentage, scoring on 44.3 percent of their shots this season.
• The Monarch man-up offense has scored the most goals this season with the advantage, posting six EMO tallies on the year.
• Offensively, the Monarchs have been led by freshman Jen O'Connor, who has tallied at least two points in eight of the nine games this year. She's coming off a career-high five goals at Juniata.
• O'Connor leads the conference in assists this season with 17, while her 20 goals is 10^th most in the MAC Freedom. Her 57 draw controls also are tops in the conference.
• The offensive unit has been balanced this season, as five players have 10 or more goals. Sophomore Mary Kate Klodarska continues to play to at a high level, posting 14 goals and 10 assists, as her 24 points rank second on the team and tied for 12^th in the conference.
• Freshman Emily Sims has posted 13 goals and 11 draw controls this season, while Emma Lehman has 11 goals as well.
• Sophomore Kylie McCarthy continues to be a key cog for King's. In wins, she is averaging 4.67 points per game while posting 0.67 points in losses this year. On the season, she's third on the team with 18 points.
• Freshman Brianna Raucci came into Wednesday's game with two goals on the year, but posted a career-high four against Juniata College.
• Junior Kelly Pierce has led a defense that is starting to gel, as she has 12 caused turnovers, 21 ground balls and nine draw controls this season.
• Goalkeeper Orla Cottell had her third game this year with a save percentage of 50 percent or higher against Juniata, as she ranks second in the MAC Freedom in saves with 84.

A Look At The Roadrunners (5-2):

• The Roadrunners have had a strong start to the season, thanks to a defense that is allowing only 7.71 goals per game. Ramapo is outscoring teams by almost seven goals a game this year.
• Shannon Egan leads the team in goals and points with 25 and 34, respectively, while adding 13 ground balls.
• Gabi Davidson is the main distributor for the Roadrunners, dishing out 14 assists to go with 16 goals. Davidson has also caused 14 turnovers.
• Molly Warner is the go-to player on draws with 40 draw controls this season, adding 15 goals and eight assists, while Beth McGraw and Ava Rinaldi have posted 14 and 11 goals, respectively.
• Alexandra Kerwin has been solid in net, stopping nearly 50 percent of shots on goal, making 53 saves while allowing 54 goals. She has played all 420 minutes in net for Ramapo.
• Varonica Caggiano leads the team with 16 caused turnovers, posting 14 ground balls, and Liana Chirichiello also has posted 13 forced giveaways with 17 ground balls.
• Ramapo is 2-2 on the road this season, falling to Merchant Marine and FDU-Florham in road contests.

A Look At The Pacers (4-4):

• Marywood is coming off a 16-9 loss at Drew University the last time out, and is amid a four-game road stretch.
• Gwyneth Gleason is the offensive leader for a unit that has scored 85 goals in eight games, as she has a team-high 26 goals. Gleason also paces the team in ground balls with 24 and draw controls with 34.
• Zoe Simeone has 17 goals and four assists, scoring on five of her seven free position attempts this year.
• Gina Babcock has scored 13 goals, while Molly Yelencsics has tallied 10 goals and 19 draw controls.
• Ashley King leads the team with six assists, tallying 16 ground balls and six scores of her own.
• Defender Maeve MacKenna has tallied 10 caused turnovers and 16 ground balls.
• Goalkeeper Mary Leahy has played all 480 minutes in net for the Pacers, posting a 11.13 goals against average while posting a 43.3 save percentage.

Against Ramapo & Marywood All-Time: King's has played Ramapo just once before, falling to the Roadrunners 19-16 back in 2016 in Wilkes-Barre, while going 0-2 against Marywood since 2000. The two schools, separated by 20 miles, haven't played since a 22-13 win for the Pacers back in 2011.

Up Next: King's finally hops into MAC Freedom play on Wednesday afternoon in Edwardsville, PA, taking on rival Wilkes University at 5 p.m. in Schmidt Stadium April 3.