WILKES-BARRE, PA (September 18, 2021) --- The King's men's soccer team dropped their homecoming game to SUNY New Paltz in a 3-0 final on Saturday night at McCarthy Stadium.

The Monarchs dominated possession out of the gates and earned their first corner of the match at the 10:13 mark. The Hawks created a counter-attack in the 19th minute when they got off back to back shots. Fortunately for King's, Pat Hughes was able to keep both shots out of the net. In the following minute New Paltz earned consecutive corner kicks that led to two more shots, the first of which was blocked and the second sent wide right.

The first half saw a lot of physicality from both sides with several fouls being called on either end. New Paltz was able to break the deadlock in the 42nd minute when Ryan Stevens scored on a breakaway off an assist from James Maltes. The Hawks carried this 1-0 lead into the half. 

The physical play continued into the second half as both teams continued to trade blows. Liam Yair ripped a shot from long distance off a corner kick in the 56th minute that was saved by New Paltz goalkeeper Marc DePasquale. The Hawks answered quickly and found their second goal of the match in the 65th minute off goal by Phillip Varner.

10 minutes later King's found their best opportunity of the contest as Luke Johns took a shot from inside the 18 yard box and just missed over the crossbar. Both sides continued to battle for possession until New Paltz scored again in the 87th minute on a goal by Paul Tola for their third of the match. 

Yair and Aziz Atiyeh each had two shots for the Monarchs while Hughes contributed a career high seven saves. KC took four corner kicks compared to New Paltz with three.

King's will look to rebound from the tough loss on Wednesday when they travel to Marywood University for another non-conference matchup. Kickoff is set for 7 pm in Scranton, PA.