WILKES-BARRE, PA (February 26, 2022) -- Despite trailing by just one goal at the half, the King's College men's lacrosse team dropped a battle in their 2022 home opener, 12-7, to the visiting Susquehanna University River Hawks on Saturday afternoon.

King's (0-1) started their 2022 opener strong, taking an early 3-0 lead over the visiting Susquehanna (2-1) in the first 4:48 of play. Senior Alec Martin found the net for the first two goals of the game, first on a man-up opportunity off a feed from sophomore Ryan Barnes before scoring an unassisted goal 2:16 later to take the 2-0 lead. First year Ben Spencer recorded his first collegiate goal 21 seconds after Martin's second to  increase the Monarchs lead to 3-0 with 10:02 to go in the opening period.

The River Hawks responded as they scored the next four goals, stretching their run into the opening minutes of the second period as Rob Swenson capped off the run with his second goal of the season with 14:05 to go before the halftime break. Martin picked up the hat trick with 9:39 left in the halfa to tied the game before another Susquehanna goal with 4:19 remaining saw the Monarchs trailing, 5-4, at the half.

King's got on the board first in the second half on Spencer's second goal off an assist from sophomore Ryan Barnes just 35 seconds into the half. Susquehanna responded with a goal at the 11:58 mark before graduate student Gabe Vansuch got his first goal of 2022 with 11:03 left in the third period thanks to a nice find from sophomore Junior Ardila. The River Hawks tacked on three more goals to end the period with a 9-6 advantage over the hosts.

The Monarchs struck first again in the final period with first year Jake Cierech's first career goal with 11:20 to play, but the River Hawks slammed the door on a King's comeback as they found the net three more times down the stretch to hand the Monarchs the 12-7 loss in their 2022 home opener on Saturday afternoon.

Martin led the Monarchs with a hat trick to start the 2022 season, totaling three goals for three points on six shots, adding two ground balls. Spencer made a mark in his collegiate debut, totaling two goals on five shots with three ground balls, while fellow-first year Jake Cierech and graduate student Gabe Vansuch each totaled a goal in the home opener. Additionally, Barnes assisted on two goals in the loss, while Jon Wiedow collected four ground balls. Junior Jackson Campbell recorded the loss between the pipes for the Monarchs in the complete sixty-minute game, totaling 19 saves.

Swenson led the River Hawks with his own hat trick of three goals and an assist on nine shots with a team-high eight ground balls. Susquehanna also got two goals and two assists from Jack Gaillard. Goalkeeper Augie Granatelli earned the win in goal in 54:45 of action, saving 13 shots.

As a team, the Monarchs totaled 27 shots while forcing 20 River Hawks turnovers and collecting 28 ground balls.

King's will be back in action on Wednesday, March 2 as they travel to Messiah University for a 4:00 p.m start in nonconference play.