WILKES, BARRE, PA (APRIL 5, 2023) --- The Kings's College men's lacrosse team battled tough but came up short, falling to visiting FDU-Florham on Wednesday night from McCarthy Stadium. With the loss, King's falls to 0-10 overall and 0-3 in conference play, while FDU-Florham improves to 5-7 overall and 1-2 in MAC Action
 
Kng's (0-10, 0-3) started quickly, opening the scoring just 38 seconds into the contest. First-year Ryan Lynch took a feed from sophomore Nate Hullinger, putting the Monarchs up 1-0 at 14:22. FDU-Florham (5-7, 1-2) responded with a 5-0 run to take a 5-1 lead at 3:16. The Monarchs answered with two goals of their own, both coming from sophomore Ben Spencer. The first came off an assist from sophomore Jake Cierech at 2:24, before an unassisted tally at 1:33. The Devils added one more goal in the frame to take a 6-3 lead after the first. FDU opened the second quarter on a 3-0 to push the lead to 9-3 at 10:18. King's began to chip into the deficit at 10:01 as junior Ryan Barnes tallied a goal off an assist from Cierech, before Cierech scored himself at 1:33, as the Monarchs trailed 9-5 at the half.

King's opened the third quarter scoring midway through the period on Lynch's second goal at 7:40. The Devils fought back with two goals of their own, extending the lead to 11-6 at 3:14. The Monarchs continued to fight, as Lynch completed his hat trick at 2:24, before Barnes capitalized on a pass from Spencer with four seconds left, as King's trailed 11-8, heading to the fourth quarter. FDU started the final frame with a 5-0, pushing their advantage to 16-8 with 2:19 to play. King's got a consolation goal late, as Cierech tallied his second goal of the game, as the Monarchs fell 16-9.
 
Senior Joe Plachcinski got the start in the cage and finished with nine saves. Cierech and Lynch led the Monarch attack recording four points a piece on two goals and two assists and three goals and one assist respectively. The face-off battle was even as King's won 14-29 draws, led by junior Redmond Cahill who won 10 of 19. The Monarchs forced two Devil turnovers, while King's went 3-4 on man-up opportunities.
 
Dalton Povilaitis got the start in goal and recorded 12 saves. Brian Stewart paced the Devils attack notching six points on three goals and three assist, while Lucas Berghanh added five points on four goals and one assist. FDU won 15 of 29 face-offs, while forcing the Monarchs into eight turnovers.
 
King's will have some time off before traveling to New Jersey to take on Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday April 15 at 1 p.m. in Hoboken.