WILKES-BARRE, PA (April 4, 2024) -- The King's College men's lacrosse team hosted Stevens for their Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom home opener on Wednesday evening. The Monarchs (1-8, 0-2 MAC Freedom) fell 26-4 to the Ducks (10-2, 2-0 MAC Freedom) at McCarthy Stadium. 

Stevens came right out the gate and scored three straight goals to create an early edge on King's with 13:06 left of the opening quarter. The Monarchs had an offensive push but the Ducks had every answer. The visitors were able to ultimately find the back of the net at 7:58. Though after a save by Jackson Campbell (Sr.), King's went down to enemy territory with Zach Webb (Jr.) finding Ben Spencer (Jr.) to gain a tally on the scoreboard. That did not quiet Stevens as they went on to score five more goals to end the first quarter ahead 9-1. 

The second quarter was much like the first with the enemy creating a 14 point lead with 10:54 minutes left of the first half. The Monarchs continued to attack their adversaries and Joe Giannella (Sr.) found Ryan Lynch (So.) for a goal. The Ducks controlled the remainder of the quarter and heading into halftime King's were down 18-2.

The Monarchs annoyed Stevens throughout the third quarter, but the Ducks would not slow down and added more points to the scoreboard. It was 5:34 when Ryan Barnes (Sr.) connected Spencer for a tally with a player up. Stevens rallied and scored after a won faceoff, but Spencer was not going down and added yet another goal for a hat trick thanks to an assist by Barnes. Stevens shut out the third quarter by finding the back of the net once more at 0:41. The score was 24-4 Ducks.

The fourth and final quarter was unlike the rest as both teams battled hard. King's caused several shot clock violations and turnovers throughout their defensive sequence. The visitors netted two more goals and the final 6:51 became scoreless. The Monarchs lost 26-4 at the final buzzer. 

Spencer had a team-high of three goals on five shots. Both Geno Casceillo (Sr.) and Ryan Dolphin (Jr.) collected five ground balls. Campbell produced 11 saves as starting goalkeeper. 

Stevens' Matthew Pergola produced four goals and two assists on six shots. Jackson Penn went 10-11 on draw controls and picked up nine ground balls. Cooper Foote had four saves in net. 

King's are back in McCarthy Stadium on Saturday, April 13^th at 1 p.m. to take on the Bulldogs of DeSales. The squad will be back on the road on Wednesday, April 17^th to battle against FDU-Florham at 7 p.m.