WILKES-BARRE, PA (April 10, 2021) -- The King's College women's lacrosse team trailed 11-9 with 6:54 to play in regulation, but junior Emily Sims forced a turnover late, picked up the ground ball and scored into an empty net with 1:09 to play to complete the comeback as the Monarchs earned a big 12-11 win over DeSales University in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) action from McCarthy Stadium Saturday. 

The win for the Monarchs (3-5, 3-3 MAC Freedom) was a big one in the conference standings, while also snapping a two-game losing skid. King's moved to a game and a half above DeSales (2-4, 2-2 MAC Freedom) for fourth place with the tiebreaker in hand thanks to Saturday's win. If the Monarchs were able to finish fourth, they would host a MAC Freedom Tournament game for the first time in program history. 

King's jumped out on top for the second straight game with two early goals, as sophomore Brynn Pike tallied unassisted for her second of the season, followed by Sims first of three goals on the day just over 2:30 into the contest. DeSales battled back to tie the game at two, but senior Mary Kate Klodarska and Emma Lehman answered with tallies to make it 4-2 in favor of the hosts. 

In a back-and-forth game, DeSales would regain the momentum with three straight goals including two from Marina Bradley to earn its first lead of the day at 5-4 with 7:56 to play in the opening half. The Monarchs were not to be outdone, responding with three goals of their own capped by a Celia Medina woman-up goal with 2:12 to play in the half to make it 7-5 at the break. King's is now 3-0 on the season when leading at halftime. 

In the second half, DeSales goalkeeper Rachel Sheubrooks came out strong which enabled her teammates to score the first four goals of the second half over the first 15 minutes of period. After Sydney MacDonough scored at 15:41 of the second half, DeSales had the momentum but Lehman was able to take advantage of a woman-up situation to tally her second of the game to make it 9-8 with 12:45 left. 

Less than two minutes later, Klodarska tallied to tie the game at nine after a great defensive play by senior Helen Zaremba on the other end gave King's possession. The Bulldogs would score back-to-back goals over a two-minute stretch to take an 11-9 lead, as Bradley tallied and then set up Amanda Schultz with 6:54 to go in the second half. 

After DSU won the ensuing draw control, Zaremba made another big play and started a quick fast-break which ended in a Natasha Koslop goal off a nice feed from Sims to make 11-10. Minutes later, King's got another big defensive stop as sophomore goalkeeper Jessie Smalley stuck a shot by Tori Brennan, outleting it quickly and Medina scored on a free-position shot to deadlock the game at 11 with just under three minutes to play. 

King's had two point-blanks chances after earning the draw control after the goal, but couldn't score after Medina hit the crossbar. After a KC ground ball, Sims drove into the arc but turned the ball over with 1:30 to go.

Sims didn't give up on the play and forced Sheubrooks into a mistake out of the cage with the defense already having cleared the zone for the clear attempt. Sims scooped up the ground ball, charged towards the empty goal and netted the open shot to put King's up for good. DSU would get the next possession but Smalley made a big stop on a free-position attempt, followed by another caused turnover by Zaremba to seal the win. 

Six Monarchs found the back of the next Saturday, led by the three goals from Sims and Lehman. Sims added two assists, three caused turnovers, a career-high seven ground balls and career-best eight draw controls. Klodarska scored twice on eight shots, adding two ground balls and two draw controls. 

Medina also had a nice game as she booked two goals, four ground balls and four draw controls. Zaremba posted a career-high four caused turnovers Saturday along with two loose ball pick-ups, and Koslop was dominant in the circle as she helped King's to a 15-10 edge in draw wins. Vivian Williams and Sarah McCormick were also very strong defensively, and Smalley finished with 10 stops in the win. 

DeSales got a game-high four goals from Bradley, as she also set up three goals in the defeat. Sheubrooks posted 10 stops for DSU, and Tori Brennan had two goals, an assist, four ground balls and three caused turnovers. 

The Monarchs will now have the week off before hosting Stevens Institute of Technology April 17 at McCarthy Stadium for Senior Day at 1 p.m..