WILKES-BARRE, PA (February 28, 2024) -- The King's College men's lacrosse team fell short in the fourth quarter to the Knights of Neumann on Wednesday. The Monarchs (0-2) lost 13-9 against the Knights during a rainy evening in McCarthy Stadium.
 
Though King's lost the opening faceoff, they were able to get into enemy territory two times before John Wall (Jr.) found the back of the net at 11:58. As the Monarchs played good defense, they were able to cause a turnover and Brendan Dennis (Fy.) connected Ryan Lynch (So.) to get another King's goal at 7:32. After a failed clear attempt by the Monarchs, Neumann was able to capitalize with a goal by Justice Brovero at 4:22. That was not going to stop King's as Geno Casceillo (Sr.) won his fourth faceoff and Jackson Campbell (Sr.) made a quick save. Ryan Barnes (Sr.) came down the turf and netted an unassisted goal at 2:03. The Monarchs remained on offense for the final two minutes of the first quarter. King's were up 3-1.
 
The Knights were ready to rain on the Monarchs parade as Brendan Boschi had a goal at 13:51 in the second quarter. The two adversaries went back-and-forth causing turnovers, but Neumann took the lead after two goals by Boschi and Javon Felix to make it 4-3. It was 7:24 on the clock when Lynch gained his second goal of the game with an assist by Wall to tie it back up. Lynch was not done there as he took advantage of a Knights' penalty and netted a third goal for a hat trick thanks to a pass by Dennis at 4:26. King's had their visitors rattled as they caused two timeouts from their opponents and forced a Neumann shot clock violation. Dennis wanted to get in on the action with a goal at 1:31 and an assist by Jon Wiedow (Sr.) to make a two-point cushion. The Knights were not going silent heading into half-time after a goal by Connor Hurley at 0:19. The score was 6-5 King's to end of the second quarter.
 
The Monarchs had a hot start into the third quarter with a caused turnover and a goal by Jake Cierech (Jr.) with another assist by Dennis at 13:36. It became scoreless for five-minutes, each team was trying to create more momentum. At 8:04, Neumann's Luke Sykes found the back of the net. The Knights went on to score two more goals as King's looked to hold on. In the final minute, Cierech earned his second goal to tie the matchup 8-8 heading into the fourth and final quarter.
 
Neumann created a 4-0 run while maintaining residency in the Monarch territory. After a Knights penalty, Lynch grabbed his fourth goal after an assist made by Cierech at 0:13. The visitors notched off their final goal with 0:05 left on the clock. The final score was 13-9 Neumann.
 
The Monarchs' Lynch had four goals with 13 shots and seven shots on goal. Cierech followed with his own two and four ground balls. Casceillo went 9-19 in faceoffs with six ground balls. Dennis dished out three assists and grabbed three ground balls. In net, Campbell had 17 saves with a team high of seven ground balls.
 
The Knights' Boschi fueled the offense with six goals. Felix passed out six helpers with two goals, four ground balls, and two caused turnovers while going 5-8 in faceoffs. Jake Methlie added to the stat sheet with six ground balls and went 8-16 in faceoffs.
 
King's will have their first road test against Rosemont at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 2^nd. The squad will travel to Marywood on Wednesday, March 6th at 7 p.m.