WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 9, 2021) --- Tara Bender equaled her career-high of 12 saves to earn her first shutout of the season as the King's College women's soccer team played visiting Stevens Institute of Technology to a 0-0 draw on Saturday afternoon at McCarthy Stadium.

In a defensive battle, Bender was the star of the match, making some phenomenal saves on breakaways to keep the Ducks out of the back of the net. Stevens (4-4-3) held a 29-2 shot advantage in the match, including 12-0 on goal, but their efforts were not enough as Bender and the King's (2-5-1) defense held strong until the final whistle. 

The Ducks saw the first opportunity of the match in the 13th minute when Taylor Whitlock ripped a shot at net, but it went straight at Bender who collected the ball comfortably. Just two minutes later Stevens created another chance on goal, but Bender came up with a stellar double save on back to back shots from close range. 

Ali Devers took the first shot of the match for King's in the 32nd minute, but missed the mark wide to the right. SIT continued to put the Monarchs under pressure in the late stages of the first half, but Bender and the Monarch defense were up for the fight and kept the score level at 0-0 going into the break.

Stevens continued to fire off shots in the second half, but Bender could not be beat. She made an amazing diving save towards the bottom left corner in the 87th minute to keep the Ducks out of the net once again. As the match headed into overtime SIT continued to attack KC, but the Monarchs remained tight in the back, not allowing the Ducks to convert. Bender would make one last save in the 104th minute off a shot from Abby Harris. 

Devers and Liz Porto each recorded a shot for King's, both were off the mark.

The Monarchs will return to the pitch on Tuesday evening when they host DeSales for another Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom matchup. Kickoff is set for 7 pm at McCarthy Stadium.