PITTSBURGH, PA (January 14, 2022) – Junior transfer Brett Dillon scored his fourth goal of the year to record the 10th point of his career on Friday night as the King's College men's ice hockey team dropped a hard-fought 4-1 decision to host Chatham University in the first-ever NCAA game played at the Hunt Armory in Pittsburgh.

Dillon, who has now record at least one point in five of the six games he skated for the Monarchs, recorded his seventh point of the year in his first game on the ice since November 27. The junior from Phoenix, Arizona gave the Monarchs a 1-0 lead at the 15:38 mark of the first period as he tipped in a shot attempt by Josh Edwards from the point. Kent Lee also earned an assist of the play. The assist was the fourth of the year for Edwards and the 11th of his career. Lee also recorded his 10th point of his career as the first-year standout from Misawa, Japan tallied his seventh assist of the year.

The Monarchs had a very strong first period against the Cougars as they outshot the hosts 14-10. Ismael Ralsten made some nifty saves in his first appearance as a Monarch. His counterpart, Ricardo Gonzalez, was just as good at the other end of the ice stopping 13 shots, including five on two different penalty kills during the first 20 minutes of action.

The Cougars took the lead with a pair of goals in the second period and more outstanding goaltending by Gonzalez. Chatham put pressure on Ralsten early taking six total shots and putting four on goal in the first 2:26 before King's was called for their second penalty of the game. The Monarchs were 1:28 into the penalty kill before being called for another penalty giving the Cougars a two-man advantage. King's was able to stop the Cougars from scoring during the two-man advantage but Zack Conner was able to tie the game up at 4:31 with a power play goal.  Matthew Doyle gave the hosts the lead at 9:17 of the period with a one-timer off a faceoff win by Matt Mood. The Monarchs battled for the rest of the period looking for the tying goal but unfortunately were not able to get any shots pass Gonzalez.

The Monarchs earned a power play opportunity 1:06 into the third period and pressured the Cougar defense as Zach Satalino and Mahingan Decontie sent shots in on goal that were saved, and Chatham had a successful penalty kill. The Monarchs were called for a penalty and nearly scored a short-handed goal during the penalty kill but Gonzalez made a pair of nice saves on back-to-back shots by Corson Searles. The Monarchs were seconds away from a successful kill before Matt Mood scored his first goal of the season as he snuck a shot from the right side just inside the right post giving Chatham a two-goal advantage. The Cougars increased the lead to 4-1 at 12:29 of the period when Evan Mitchell sent a cross-ice pass to a streaking Carson Grainer who scored his fourth goal of the year on a two-on-one breakaway.

The Monarchs fought valiantly until the final whistle taking shot after shot at Gonzalez but were unable to light the lamp against the senior. King's finished the game with 31 shots on goal, their fourth-highest total of the season. Decontie led the team with six shots while Mauro D'Alessandro, Satalino, and Seales all have four each. Ralsten finished with 32 saves in goal making his first appearance as a Monarch. Rob Sheehan led the Monarchs on faceoffs with eight wins and three losses

King's will return to the ice next weekend when they begin the second rotation of United Collegiate Hockey Conference play. The Monarchs will host Manhattanville College on Friday night at 7:00 pm before the Neumann Knights come to town on Saturday night for a 7:00 pm puck drop at Revolution Ice Centre in Pittston. The Monarchs will be playing their first home games of 2022 and their first home games since November 26 after six straight games on the road.