SHELTON, CT (Jan. 3, 2024) - - In a hard-fought matchup, King's College men's ice hockey lost 6-5 to Post University in the Eagles home rink, Sports Center of Connecticut. Several Monarch's contributed to the team's fight, including Cameron Bauer and Kevin Martin, who each had two goals. Ethan Hersant scored for King's as well and added an assist. Alexander Ray also added two assists and two blocks.

After a chaotic first 10 minutes of play with six penalties between both teams, the Monarchs were able to recover and score the first goal of the game with just five and a half minutes left in the first period while in power play advantage. Bauer picked off a loose puck and raced down the right side of the rink to score an impressive goal and was assisted by Ray. The Eagles were quick to respond however and scored one for themselves just two minutes later. Post found the back of the net again with just over a minute left in the first period and ended with a 2-1 lead over King's going into the second period.

The Monarchs battled back to tie things up in the second period and came back after 8:15 minutes of play to score. Bauer scored again for King's and was assisted by Ray and Patrick Nowak to even out the scoreboard to 2-2. After a scrappy five minute bout for both teams, Post took back its lead and scored its third goal of the game with just over 3 minutes on the clock. After King's received a penalty for boarding, the Monarchs managed to tie things up again on a shorthanded goal just 39 seconds after the Eagles scored. Martin scored his first goal of the year assisted by Hersant. Just another 34 seconds later, Post scored its fourth goal to capitalize on the power play and broke the brief tie to earn a 4-3 lead over King's with just 1:50 minutes left in the second period. Due to an injury that occurred after the goal, the second period ended early and an extra 1:50 minutes was added to the final period, so Post ultimately went into the third with a 4-3 lead.

After playing out the remaining 1:50 minutes from the second period, the Eagles scored their fifth goal of the day with about 18 minutes left in the game. While the Monarchs were unable to score while up a man during power play, Martin scored his second goal of the day just seconds later to tighten their gap to 5-4, with assists from Carson Holliday and Matt Metsa. In the middle of yet another power play, King's earned a penalty shot after an eight-player pile up right in front of the goal. Hersant scored the power play penalty shot for the Monarchs to tie things back up again 5-5. Post took back the lead again with just under six minutes to go. King's continued to fight through the end of the game and earned a power play with just four seconds remaining, and while the Monarchs were able to get a shot on goal, they could not capitalize on the opportunity and fell short to the Eagles with a final score of 6-5.

The Monarchs tallied 45 shots compared to 47 for the Eagles. On the defensive end, King's blocked 8 shots; Aaron Frenkel and Ray blocked two each. Diego D'Alessandro collected 13 saves in goal, followed by six saves for Tyler Sayger.

King's College men's ice hockey continues on the road for its first United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) and Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) game of 2024 at Stevenson University at Reisterstown Sportsplex in Maryland on Jan. 7 at 7 pm.