WILLKES-BARRE, PA (MARCH 29, 2023) --- The Kings's College men's lacrosse team opened MAC Freedom play, falling to visiting Delaware Valley University 13-6 on Wednesday at McCarthy Stadium. With the loss, King's falls to 0-8 overall and 0-1 in conference play, while Delaware Valley improves to 5-5 overall and 1-0 in MAC play,
 
King's (0-8, 0-1) struck first, scoring early in the contest, as first-year Ryan Lynch put the Monarchs up 1-0 at 13:17. Delaware Valley (5-5, 1-0) responded by scoring the next three goals to take a 3-1 lead with 4:28 to play. The Monarchs answered late in the quarter, as Lynch collected his second goal of the contest off an assist from sophomore Nate Hullinger with four seconds left in the frame. The Aggies pushed their lead to three goals midway through the second quarter on goals thirty seconds apart, to give Delaware Valley a 5-2 lead at 7:28. Once again King's fought back as junior Ryan Barnes cut the deficit to 5-3 just over a minute later at 6:25. Delaware Valley scored the final two goals of the frame to take a 7-3 advantage into halftime.
 
Early in the third quarter, the Monarchs pushed back as Lynch completed his hat trick at 13:31, cutting the Aggies lead back down to three. Delaware Valley scored at 5:44, before sophomore Ben Spencer kept King's close with a tally at 4:51, as the Monarchs trailed 8-5 heading to the fourth quarter. The Aggies pulled away in the final frame, as Delaware Valley opened the quarter on a 4-0 run, pushing their advantage to 12-5, before Barnes notched his second goal of the game at 3:09. The Aggies added one more goal late, as Delaware Valley came away with 13-6 win.
 
Senior Matt Wall got the start in the cage and finished with 13 saves. Lynch and Barnes led the Monarch attack as the only two players to record multiple points, on three goals and two goals respectively. It was relatively even on face-offs as junior Redmond Cahill won eight of 21 draws. The Monarchs forced five Aggie turnovers on the evening, as King's went 4-6 while a man down and 0-1 on man-up opportunities.
 
Aidan Purcell earned the win in goal and collected 14 saves. Brett Ziegler and Daniel Aulisi paced the Delaware Valley offense, as both recorded four points on four goals and two goals and two assists respectively. The Aggies won 13 of 21 face-offs, while causing five Monarchs turnovers.
 
King's hits the road and will head up the mountain to take on Misericordia University in a MAC Freedom contest on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Dallas, PA.