PITTSBURGH, PA (November 3, 2023) -- Denys Arkhypenko's second-period goal put the Monarchs ahead, and his insurance goal in the third helped pave the way toward a 5-2 win as the King's College men's ice hockey team defeated the host Chatham University in their United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) opener on Friday evening. The Monarchs secured their first win in the 2023-24 campaign at the Hunt Armory Ice Rink and improve to 1-2-0 overall and 1-0-0 in UCHC play, while the Cougars drop to 1-2-0 and 0-1-0 in the UCHC.
 
It was a scoreless opening period that saw Chatham (1-2-0, 0-1-0 UCHC) hold a slight edge in the shot column, 20-15, but Tyler Sayger thwarted all 13 attempts on the goal to maintain the 0-0 tie.
 
Just 55 seconds into second period, Aaron Frenkel scored his first goal of the season on a power-play opportunity to put King's (1-2-0, 1-0-0 UCHC) on the board, 1-0. The teams traded their fair share of opportunities over the next 11:06 of action before the Cougars broke through the Monarchs defense and knotted the score with 7:59 left in the second.
 
Arkyhpenko put King's back on top 1:22 later as Ethan Hersant and Kent Lee found the sophomore for the even-strength score, but Chatham had an answer in the final 1:24 as they recorded their own power-play goal as the game entered the final intermission all tied at two goals a piece.
 
The teams came out of the break firing to break the stalemate, but it was Jayden Baldinelli who scored the game-winner 2:59 into the third thanks to a feed from Alexander Ray for their second power-play goal of the contest. While the shot totals were tied at 21 each in the period, King's remained efficient, scoring two more goals as Arkypenko gave King's the 4-2 edge on a power-play opportunity 5:58 into the frame on helpers from Casey Gerstein and Kent Lee. Hersant put an exclamation mark on the win with a breakaway, short-handed, empty net goal on an assist from Gerstein with 1:19 left on the game clock as the Monarchs defeated the Cougars, 5-2, in game one of their weekend UCHC series in Pittsburgh.
 
Arkhypenko led the way with two goals on five shots, while Lee and Gerstein each collected two points on their two assists with Gerstein earning a team-best nine face off wins. Baldinelli picked up a point on his goal with a team-leading eight shots, while Kevin Martin added eight victories in the face off circle. Defensively, Mauro D'Alessandro and Erik Borschevsky each blocked three attempts. Sayger earned the win in the net with 31 total saves on the night.
 
Nicholas Babbie and Caden Smith each scored for Chatham in the loss, while Zack Conner fired off a team-high 10 shots. Additionally, Bekk McClaine won 11 face offs, and True Crowe blocked two shots. Thomson Phinney was the goalie of record, going the distance with 22 saves.
 
Ass a team, the Monarchs recorded 48 shots with 27 on goal, going 3-for-4 on power play opportunities while killing 3-of-4 chances by the Cougars. The King's defense had the edge in blocked shots in the win, 12-8, over Chatham, while being slightly edged 37-35 in the face off column.
 
The Monarchs look to finish their series sweep over the Cougars tomorrow afternoon, taking on Chatham at the Hunt Armory Ice Rink at 3:00 p.m.