WILKES-BARRE, PA (April 26, 2019) – The King's College women's lacrosse team will look to secure another trip to the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) playoffs on Saturday, traveling to Manhattanville College for the regular season finale in Purchase, NY. King's will look to shake off Wednesday's loss to Misericordia University, and can make the postseason tournament with either a win or an Eastern University loss to DeSales University.

Event Details
Opponent: at Manhattanville College (5-9, 1-5 MAC Freedom)
Date: Saturday, April 27, 2019
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Purchase, NY – GoValiants.com Field (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Video) (Live Stats)

Last Time Out: Sophomore Orla Cottell made 17 saves on Wednesday evening, but visiting Misericordia University was a little too much as the Cougars knocked off the King's College women's lacrosse team 20-4 in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) action from McCarthy Stadium.

The sophomore netminder made 13 stops in the opening half, and moved to within two of the single-season record for saves as she now has 176 stops for the year. Cottell is now two saves behind Heather Kelly and her 178 saves back in 2008.

King's (6-11, 3-3 MAC Freedom) took an early lead at 27:55 of the first half, as sophomore Mary Kate Klodarska cut beautifully down the middle of the zone and Jen O'Connor hit her in stride as her shot hit twine. MU (11-5, 6-0 MAC Freedom) responded with five goals, before King's got a goal from Kylie McCarthy, as Emily Sims hit her on the back post for a lay-up.

The Monarchs would get another goal before the half thanks to a free position attempt from O'Connor, but Misericordia would take a 12-3 lead into the break. After halftime, King's actually dominated possession with a 6-4 draw control edge but could only manage one goal as the Cougars rolled to the win.

O'Connor finished with two goals and an assist, adding a team-high eight shots and five draw controls. McCarthy finished with a goal and two ground balls, and Sims posted an assist, two ground balls and three draw controls. Cottell added five ground balls, and Jennifer Smalley finished with two ground balls and a caused turnover.

King's was successful on 14 of its 18 clear attempts on the evening, while each team posted 13 draw controls. The one stat that was the difference was turnovers, as King's committed 21 to just nine from Misericordia.

A Look At The Monarchs (6-11, 3-3 MAC Freedom):

• The Monarchs will be looking to earn a MAC Freedom Tournament appearance for the fourth straight season Saturday, including the third straight under head coach Ashley Stevens.
• King's comes into the game on Saturday committing just 20.12 turnovers per game, which is the second-lowest rate in the conference behind just MAC Freedom leaders Misericordia.
• The Monarchs have posted 218 draw controls on the year, which ranks second in the conference.
• Freshman Jen O'Connor recently became the all-time scoring leader at King's for a freshman, and leads the squad with 74 points. She is also looking to become just the fifth player in program history to reach 80 points in a season.
• O'Connor is second in the conference in draw controls with 109, and her 35 caused turnovers ranks third in the conference. She's also sixth in ground balls with 46.
• Junior Kelly Pierce should be in the running for an All-MAC Freedom spot, as she ranks fifth in ground balls in the league, while her 34 caused turnovers is sixth-most.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Orla Cottell is two saves shy of tying the single-season saves mark, as the record is 178, held by Heather Kelly back in 2008. Her 10.35 saves a game is fourth in the conference, while her save percentage of .429 is fifth.
• In MAC Freedom games, Cottell has made 50.6 percent of saves and her 13.00 saves per game is third-highest.
• Emma Lehman had her goal streak snapped Wednesday, but still is second on the team with 32 goals, while classmate Mary Kate Klodarska is second on the team in points with 26 goals and 16 assists.
• Emily Sims has added 22 goals and nine assists, while her 41 draw controls is second-highest on the team.
• Junior Mia Dardanelli has come on strong lately, and is playing her best lacrosse of the season right now, as she has 20 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers.

A Look At The Valiants (5-9, 1-5 MAC Freedom):

• Manhattanville has been eliminated from the MAC Freedom Tournament race, having dropped its last four games including a 20-3 loss to FDU-Florham on Wednesday.
• The Valiants have the league's second-lowest goal differential at -4.9 goals per game, while their shooting percentage of 37.2 is also the lowest in the MAC Freedom.
• Manhattanville does have a balanced attack with six players tallying double-digit goals, led by the 59 points from freshman Lara Keenan.
• Keenan has scored 47 goals on the year, leading Manhattanville in ground balls, caused turnovers and draw controls.
• Brialee Logue has posted 24 goals and three assists this season for the Valiants, and Hailey DeStasio has netted 15 goals and 11 assists.
• Diana Piacquadio is third on the team in caused turnovers with 12, adding 12 goals and 14 ground balls.
• Bella Marchiselli has played all 840 minutes in net for the Valiants, making 159 saves while stopping 42.9 percent of shots on goal.
• Head coach Jen Nardi is in her second season as head coach of the Valiants, going 9-7 last year as the head mentor.

Against Manhattanville All-Time: The two teams have played a close series, as Manhattanville holds a slight 6-5 edge in wins. The Valiants won last year 13-12 in Wilkes-Barre, PA,

Up Next: If the Monarchs make the MAC Freedom Tournament, they could still be the No. 3 seed in the MAC Freedom Tournament. If King's wins on Saturday, and Eastern defeats DeSales, all three teams would be 4-3 in the conference. Due to all three teams defeating all of the teams below them in the standings and losing to both Misericordia and FDU-Florham, the next tie-breaker would go into effect.

Goal differential, with the max being six goals per game, against the three teams tied would be the next tie-breaker. King's currently sits at +5, followed by DeSales +1 and Eastern's -6. If Eastern were to defeat DeSales by four or more goals, King's and Eastern would make the tournament, eliminating DeSales. In that scenario, King's would be the No. 3 seed due to its higher goal differential over Eastern, facing FDU-Florham Wednesday.

If Eastern wins by two or less, DeSales goal differential would still be higher than Eastern's, eliminating the Eagles from the tie-breaker. King's would be the three seed, and DeSales would be the four seed. If King's loses, and DeSales loses to Eastern, Eastern would be the three seed and DeSales would be the four seed. If DeSales wins, the Bulldogs are locked into the three and King's is locked into the four seed.

For more information, log onto the 2019 Women's Lacrosse Championships page HERE.