WILKES-BARRE, PA (February 21, 2024) -- The King's College women's lacrosse team witnessed three players record hat tricks in their season opener against Gwynedd Mercy (0-1) on Wednesday night in McCarthy Stadium. The Monarchs defeated the Griffins 16-11 to start their season 1-0.
 
In just the first 1:36 Ashley Dias (Jr.) netted a goal with the help off an assist by Carli Komorowski (Jr.) at 13:24 for King's. Before the final five minutes of the quarter, Gwynedd Mercy put up two tallies by Kristin Varilla and one from Rebecca Gordan. The Monarchs responded with back-to-back goals by Chloe Burk (Jr.) and Sarah Schultz (So.) to tie the game. Dunworth put another one in the back of the net to take the lead at the conclusion of the quarter.
 
King's were up 4-3 when Burke added her second goal of the evening to maintain the Monarch momentum. The Griffins answered back quickly as Varilla tacked on another point to the scoreboard with an assist made by Caroline Cleary. The second quarter became scoreless as the minutes dwindled down. King's went on to out score Gwynedd Mercy 5-4 in the final three and a half minutes with the help of tallies made by Emilee Schultz (So.), Dias, and Komorowski. The Monarchs went into halftime up 8-6.
 
The Griffins came back with vengeance to start the third quarter seeing Gianna Papa netting her first goal of the season at 13:54. King's were able to put up two points while being down a teammate that included goals by Olivia Benner (Sr.) and Komorowski. At 9:45 left of the second quarter, Komorowski earned her first hat trick of the season. Heading into the final five minutes, the Monarchs took on another 3-2 run before going scoreless to end it 14-9. In their last run heading into the final 15 minutes of play, King's witnessed two goals by Emilee Schultz for a hat trick and one by Burke.
 
Emilee Schultz added another goal  with an assist by Dunworth at 13:08. Dunworth added her own at 11:50 during a free position shot. Gwynedd made one last attempt at 3:27 by Caroline Cleary to put the Griffins within five. The Monarchs were able to stay on the offensive end in the final minutes to gain their first win of the season with the final score being 16-11.
 
Emilee Schultz had a team high of four goals. Komorowski added three goals, two assists, and caused two turnovers. Burke also had three goals with 13 draw controls. On the defensive end, Gabby Lucchesi (Jr.) caused three turnovers. Sidney Bush (Sr.) tallied 15 saves for the day in net.
 
Varilla recorded four goals for the Griffins, while Hailey Bloom added her own three. Cleary had four assists and three ground balls. Alsia Collins and Cheyenne Avellino both caused four turnovers each.
 
The Monarchs are back in action Friday, February 23^rd at 6 p.m. for their rescheduled game against Bryn Athyn. The squad will have their first road test over Spring Break in Virginia beach to take on Virginia Wesleyan at 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 3^rd.