PITTSTON, PA (November 12, 2021) -- Jack Cooper scored twice in the third period to lead a furious comeback attempt for the King's College men's ice hockey team in a hard-fought 5-4 loss to cross-town rival and 14th-ranked Wilkes University on Friday evening at the Revolution Ice Centre in Pittston. The Monarchs rallied from a three-goal deficit to nearly upset the Colonels in a United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) and Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) contest.

Wilkes (5-0-0, 3-0-0 UCHC, 1-0-0 MAC) scored the only goal in an exciting first period of play as Tyler Dill found the back of the net for his third goal of the year. The Monarchs (1-3-0, 1-2-0 UCHC, 0-1-0 MAC) pressured for the equalizer in the period with Jack O'Neil, Aaron Frenkel, and Evan Green taking back-to-back-to-back shots on goal right around the 14-minute mark of the period. The Colonel goalie was able to stop all three shots keeping the Monarchs off the board. Casey Gerstein took two shots at the net that were saved before the Colonels were able to get the puck out of the Monarch offensive zone.

Jakub Viedemann evened the score up 1:23 into the second period with a power-play goal, his second of the season. Aaron Frenkel and Michael DiSchiavi assisted on the goal. The Colonels would score the next three goals of the period to take a 4-1 lead. Scott Mueller tallied his first goal of the season at 3:01 of the period before Dill scored a short-handed goal at 7:45 and then a power-play goal at 11:05. The Monarchs responded with a goal by Tyler Blanchard at 15:47 to cut the lead to 4-2. Blanchard scored his second goal of the year while Ian Zaleski and Cooper assisted on the play.

Wilkes opened the third period with a goal by Nick Godfrey at 2:22 to increase their advantage back to three goals. The Monarchs wouldn't let the deficit deter them as Cooper scored his first goal of the game and third of the year not even a minute later. Blanchard assisted on the goal. King's kept the pressure on the Colonels as Frenkel and Luke Babilon fired shots on goal that were saved. The Monarchs made it 5-4 at 11:54 when Cooper knocked in his own rebound 53 seconds into a power-play opportunity. Frenkel and Kent Lee received assists on the goal. King's had a great opportunity to tie the game late with the Colonels being called for a penalty with a little over a minute and a half left. Once the puck was in play down inside the offensive zone, KC pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. Viedemann sent a shot wide before Blanchard hit the pipe with about 20 seconds left. Lee's last second attempt went wide as the Colonels held on for the victory.

King's scored at least four goals for the third straight game while handing the Colonels their toughest test of the year so far. Cooper led the team with two goals and one assist while taking a team-high four shots. Frenkel had two assists while also taking four shots. Lee continued his brilliant play with one assist and three shots. Gerstein won a team-best 10 faceoffs and lost seven. The Monarchs blocked 13 shots and Brandon Daigle made 41 saves. All three of the Monarch losses this year have been by one goal.

KC will look to rebound from the tough loss tomorrow afternoon when they take on Albertus Magnus College in a non-conference affair beginning at 5 pm at Revolution Ice Centre in Pittston.