WILKES-BARRE, PA (April 13,2024) -- A 10 goal fourth quarter push falls short for the King's College men's lacrosse team on Saturday afternoon. The Monarchs fell 21-13 against the Bulldogs of DeSales at McCarthy Stadium in their Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom contest.
 
In the opening quarter, both teams battled hard looking to find the back of the net. After five-minutes of play, DeSales (7-5, 3-0 MAC Freedom) added the first tally of the game at 10:09. Though the King's (1-9, 0-3 MAC Freedom) defense stayed strong and after a caused turnover by Junior Ardilla (Sr.), the Monarchs went down to enemy territory. At 9:20, Zach Webb (Jr.) found Jake Cierech (Jr.) for a goal to tie the matchup. King's made the Bulldogs scoreless for six-minutes while forcing several shot clock violations. DeSales eventually found the back of the net at 2:56 to go up one. At the end of the first quarter, the Monarchs were down 2-1.
 
The Bulldogs continued their momentum by scoring a quick tally at 14:09. After a caused turnover by Ryan Dolphin (Jr.), King's went down to score a goal at 11:26 by Cierech and an assist by Brendan Dennis (Fy.). The visitors were not going quiet and continued to pester their hosts. DeSales went on to extend their lead after adding six more tallies to the scoreboard. The Bulldogs were up 9-2 heading into half time.
 
The third quarter was much like the second as DeSales maintained their edge by finding the back of the net several times. The clock was dwindling down when Nate Hullinger (Jr.) netted a goal at 0:25 thanks to an assist by Joe Gianella (Sr.). Going into the final quarter, the score was 17-3 Bulldogs.
 
King's had great momentum heading into the fourth quarter when the squad witnessed Josh Hilpp (Fy.) and Webb produce unassisted tallies with 12:22 left of the contest. Seconds later, Geno Casceillo (Sr.) won a faceoff that helped Redmond Cahill (Sr.) find Ben Spencer (Jr.) for another Monarch goal at 11:58. King's were not done there as Ryan Barnes wanted to get in on the action and found the back of the net at 10:55. DeSales came back with their own back-to-back goals. The Monarchs continued to fight with energy and Dennis scored at 5:34, but the Bulldogs responded back with their own tally. King's made another 4-1 run that included Dolphin, Ryan Lynch (So.), and Spencer. The Monarchs ultimately lost 21-14 after a strong fourth quarter push.
 
Spencer had a team-high of three goals with both Cierech and Dennis following with two each. Chris O'Mara (So.) picked up six ground balls. Dolphin had three caused turnovers and four ground balls. Jackson Campbell (Sr.) produced six saves and Miles Wilson (Fy.) had four saves in net.
 
DeSales' Pat Schuett earned seven goals and three assists. Nate Perry was right behind with six goals on 10 shots. Anthony Gash went 18-24 in faceoffs and picked up 12 ground balls. TJ Lowe had 10 saves as starting goalkeeper.
 
King's will be back on the road on Wednesday, April 17^th at 7 p.m. to take on FDU-Florham. The program will celebrate their seniors on Saturday, April 20^th before battling against Misericordia at 1 p.m. at McCarthy Stadium.