WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 18, 2023) -- Trailing 2-0 late in the third quarter, the King's College field hockey staged a comeback effort but came up just shy in a 3-2 loss to Delaware Valley University in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play on Wednesday afternoon at McCarthy Stadium. The Monarchs now stand at 3-13 overall and 0-4 in the conference, while the Aggies improved to 5-8 with a 2-2 conference mark.
 
Delaware Valley (5-8, 2-2 MAC Freedom) found their stride early, using an penalty corner and some momentum to put the first score on the board 5:21 into the game. The King's (3-13, 0-4 MAC Freedom) defense settled in across the final 9:39 of the period to preserve the 1-0 deficit.
 
It was a similar story in the second as the Aggies continued to pester the Monarchs cage, with Grace Venis making three strong saves before a late effort from Delaware Valley snuck in with 1:32 to go to put the visitors ahead, 2-0, at the break.
 
The Monarchs shifted the momentum in the third quarter after a handful of Aggies attempts were thwarted by the hosts. Ashley Thalassinos and Megan Harry saw back-to-back opportunities in the 42^nd minute, but both were halted by the Delaware Valley goalkeeper. King's then had three more tries ahead of a time-expiring penalty corner that saw Jessie Smalley insert immediately to Hannah Chocallo who rocketed the ball into the back of the cage to put King's on the board, trailing 2-1, after three quarters of action.
 
After a quick offensive spurt from Delaware Valley, King's went back on the attack with a pair of shots from Emma Clark and one attempt from Thalassinos. The Aggies took advantage of their defensive stand, earning back-to-back penalty corners. A great stop at the cage by Davina Krappa kept the Aggies at bay, but the rebound was knocked into the goal to push the Delaware Valley lead to 3-1 with 6:57 remaining. A 2:05 span saw the Monarchs push the pace again as Thalassinos sent a shot into the circle that Clark delivered into the cage as King's closed within 3-2 with 4:52 to go. Melanie Tlatenchi had one great look on the cage that was saved by the Aggies goalkeeper in the 58^th minute, and Delaware Valley was able to run out the remaining game clock as the Monarchs dropped the 3-2 MAC Freedom contest at McCarthy Stadium.
 
Clark surpassed her 20^th point of the season with her ninth goal on a team-high six shots with three on target, while Chocallo picked up two points on her second goal on a pair of attempts. Thalassinos and Smalley also added tallies to the stat sheet on their assists, while Venis finished with nine saves in the cage.
 
Sydney Keagle led the Aggies with a goal and an assist, while Ashley Birmingham scored on a team-high five shots with three on target. In the cage, Alyssa Rudd stopped five attempts for the visitors.
 
Despite the slow start, the Monarchs were only slightly edged in shots, 16-13, for the game.
 
King's will return to their home turf for the final game at McCarthy Stadium in the 2023 regular season on Saturday afternoon. The Monarchs will host DeSales University in a MAC Freedom match up while hosting their Epilepsy Awareness game at 5:00 p.m.