WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 13, 2021) --- Junior Aziz Atiyeh scored two goals on Wednesday evening to lead the King's College men's soccer team to a convincing 4-1 victory over DeSales University at McCarthy Stadium.

Atiyeh opened the scoring just eight minutes into the match when he received a lofted pass over the back line from Kyle Shalvey and beat out the DeSales goalkeeper, Nathan Hatzfeld, to the near post for his first goal of the season. The duo linked up again seven minutes later when Shalvey played a free kick into the box that found the leaping head of Atiyeh who knocked it past Hatzfeld and into the top left corner of the net. The score gave the Monarchs an early 2-0 lead, which they maintained until the end of the first half.

KC continued to attack the DeSales defense in the second half and Shalvey nearly added to the tally in the 52nd minute when he tried to catch the DeSales goalkeeper off guard on a long-range free kick. Soon after, Buck Diacont made his mark on the match by scoring the third goal for the Monarchs off a defensive error by the Bulldogs. The goal continued Diacont's streak, as he has now scored in the last four games for King's. 

The Bulldogs found their first and only goal of the match in the 84th minute when Ryan Mastowski capitalized on a rare miscue from the Monarch defense.

Liam Yair capped off the thrilling night with a late goal in the 90th minute off an assist from Chris Vollrath. Yair received a through ball from Vollrath on the end line which he took towards net and eventually placed his shot into the bottom right corner leaving the DeSales keeper no chance.

Atiyeh led the Monarch attack with three shots, while Diacont, Chris O'Neill, and Mason Vanhorn all added two shots. Cole Catherman gathered three saves in net for KC, and Pat Hughes contributed two saves after relieving Catherman in the 68th minute. Nate Horn, Jared Smith, and Pat Holton all had stellar games on the defensive end for King's, along with Dylan Domchek and Trevor Jones. 

The Monarchs finished with a 16-12 shot advantage in the contest, including 9-6 on goal. KC also held a 2-1 advantage in corner kicks. With the win King's improves to 5-4-1 on the season, and 2-1-0 in conference play.

The squad will look to carry this momentum into Saturday when they travel to Delaware Valley for another MAC Freedom matchup. Kickoff is scheduled for 430 pm in Doylestown, PA.