WILKES-BARRE, PA (April 13, 2019) -- Freshman Jen O'Connor posted seven points on six goals and an assist and sophomore keeper Orla Cottell made 13 saves while stopping 72.2 percent of the shots on her as the King's College women's lacrosse team rolled to an 18-5 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC Freedom) victory over Eastern University Saturday from McCarthy Stadium. 

Everything was clicking for the Monarchs (6-9, 3-1 MAC Freedom), who saw both sides of the ball play with intensity and focus for the entire 60 minutes. King's posted a season-high 17 caused turnovers and forced the Eagles (3-8, 2-2 MAC Freedom) into 27 giveaways while King's outshot EU 37-23. 

King's stormed out of the gates in the opening half, outshooting its opponent 22-8 while allowing the Eagles to post just four clears on 16 attempts in the first stanza. King's on the other hand was successful on 11-of-12 chances, as the ball was in the EU zone most of the half. 

KC got things going offensively with two goals separated by only 36 seconds, as O'Connor was set up by fellow newcomer Emily Sims followed by an unassisted Mary Kate Klodarska goal at 26:54. The King's run to start the game continued until it led 5-0 as freshman Bailey Jordan scored off a nice dish from Kylie McCarthy for her seventh goal of the year. 

Eastern Meghan Kosmides scored a pair of free position goals to make it 5-2, but sophomore Emma Lehman completed her hat trick at 13:07 of the first half to push the King's lead to four at 6-2. For Lehman, she has posted six consecutive games with two or more goals, while the four Saturday tied her career-high. 

Just over two minutes later, King's got a goal from senior Katy Higinbothom, who made a beautiful fake high on the EU keeper and tallied low to make it 7-2. Another 5-0 run for King's finished with 6:02 showing on the clock as Klodarska netted another goal to make the score 10-2. 

King's ended the first half on a three-goal spurt which included Lehman's fourth of the day on a set-up by O'Connor to make it 13-3 going to halftime. After the break, the offensive unit stayed strong but it was Cottell's time to shine. 

The sophomore goalkeeper made 10 stops in the second half alone, as Eastern and King's each totaled 15 shots apiece. The strong play of Cottell and the defense in front of her allowed King's to outscore Eastern 5-2 in the second half as the clock rolled for the majority of the win. 

O'Connor posted her second straight game with seven points, adding team highs in shots with nine and draw controls with five. McCarthy added two goals, two assists, two caused turnovers and five ground balls, marking the fourth game this season with four or more points. 

Both Sims and Klodarska finished with three points for King's, while Jordan tallied a goal and an assist as well for King's. Defensively, Kelly Pierce was a stalwart as usual, totaling a team-best six ground balls in addition to five caused turnovers. Pierce has caused 10 turnovers over the past three games. 

Junior Jennifer Smalley was stout as well, posting two caused turnovers including taking a charge, and Helen Zaremba and Mia Dardanelli each had a ground ball and caused turnover. King's outshot the Eagles 37-23 on the game, winning the ground ball battle 32-22. King's was also successful on 17 of its 20 clear chances. 

Kosmides finished with three scores for the Eagles, and Marcie Spencer tallied 15 stops in cage in the defeat. 

King's will travel to Center Valley, PA for a big MAC Freedom contest with DeSales University Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. from the DeSales Turf Field.