PITTSTON, PA (Feb. 9, 2024) - - For the first time in King's College women's ice hockey program history, the Monarchs defeated Chatham University this evening, 2-1, at Revolution Ice Centre in the first game of a United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) series. Thanks to goals by Ani Quinidipan and Abby Barlocker, the Monarchs' record improves to 5-16-1 overall and 4-12-1 in UCHC play. 

Chatham came out quick from the start against King's and were aggressive on offense, but it was simply not enough to break through the Monarchs' defense. Despite out shooting King's 11-3 in the first period, the Cougars could not capitalize on their opportunities and could only continue to hold off the Monarchs for so long. Quinidipan scored the first goal of the match just over 13 minutes into play with assists from Dianna Duncan and Sammi Stead. As the Cougars continued to push with intensity, it was still not quite enough, and King's ended the first period with a 1-0 lead.

As the game continued to grow more heated on both sides of the puck, the Cougars continued to pressure heavily on offense, but they could not break through King's defense yet again. However, because of this pressure, the Monarchs had very few scoring opportunities for themselves in the second period as they were out shot again, but this time 12-1. Hayley Packer had multiple impressive saves in goal in the second period that helped her save 23 shots up this this point in time. The Monarchs continued to lead 1-0 going into the last 20 minutes of the game. 

As both teams battled to add points to the scoreboard in the first half of the third period, Chatham was finally able to capitalize on its offensive opportunities and tied the game just under 12 minutes into the period while in power play. However, things came untied shortly as Barlocker scored the game winning goal less than four minutes later thanks to assists from Amanda Sokol and Jordan Dittmar. While the Cougars tried relentlessly to find the back of the net again for an equalizer, including emptying their net to add an extra skater with less than two minutes left, their efforts could not break King's defense. The Monarchs defeated Chatham 2-1. 

Packer finished the game with 36 saves in goal by the end of the evening. Lucy Beal and Kait Wolf led the charge on defense for King's with three blocks each, followed by several other Monarchs for a total of 14. Issy Lebrun had nine face off wins for King's as well.

The Monarchs take the ice again tomorrow, Feb. 10, at 2 pm for Senior Day to honor the women's ice hockey team's seniors and graduate students graduating this year back at Revolution Ice Centre against Chatham yet again.