WILKES-BARRE, PA (April 3, 2019) -- Visiting Wilkes University outscored the King's College men's lacrosse team 4-1 in the deciding third quarter, opening up a 2-1 halftime lead to earn a 8-5 Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) victory over the Monarchs in the conference opener for both teams from McCarthy Stadium. 

The first half was exciting if you like strong defensive play and even better work from the goalkeepers. Both Matt Basile from King's and Carter Whittemore of Wilkes were locked in between the pipes, while the teams forced a combined 22 turnovers in the first two periods. 

Wilkes opened the scoring with 7:46 to go in the first quarter, as Ethan Weaver tallied an unassisted goal off a hesitation shot near the goal line. Four minutes later, King's (2-7, 0-1 MAC Freedom) evened the score at a goal apiece as sophomore Gabe Vansuch scored his first of two goals with help from Brett O'Neill. 

The game would then go nearly 15 minutes without a goal before Weaver scored again for the Colonels to send the game into intermission with Wilkes leading 2-1. After the break, King's quickly tied the game 2:10 into the quarter on a Brian Steiger goal.

Less than a minute later, John Wink scored his only goal of the game for Wilkes to start a four-goal run to make it 6-2 going to the final period. The spurt was fueled by a non-releasable penalty after what looked like a goal by King's. The referees waived the goal off, called a goalie interference penalty on King's and WU scored twice with the man-up on the penalty. 

In the fourth, King's pulled to within two at 7-5 after Vansuch picked up a loose ball in front and scored with 7:36 to go. That was as close as the Monarchs would get, as Andrew Moynihan finished 16-of-16 on face-offs to help seal the win for the visitors. 

Chris Surina was strong defensively for King's, as he led the Monarchs with three caused turnovers and three ground balls, and long stick midfielder Jacob Wrede had three ground balls and a caused turnover. King's did do a strong job on Wink, who came into the game as the NCAA leader in points per game, holding him to just a goal and assist. 

Vansuch led the Monarchs with three points on two goals and an assist, while Steiger finished with two goals. O'Neill added two assists, and Jack Camp posted a goal as well for King. Basile finished with 15 saves and only eight goals allowed. King's was 21-of-24 on clear attempts. 

Wilkes outshot the Monarchs by a slight 39-36 total, and went 3-of-5 on man-up opportunities. Connor Daly tallied three times for Wilkes, adding an assist, and Weaver finished with three points thanks to two goals. Whittemore finished with 13 stops in goal for the Colonels. 

King's will head out on the road to take on FDU-Florham Saturday at 1 p.m. in MAC Freedom action from Robert T. Shields Field in Madison, NJ.