WILKES-BARRE, PA (September 1, 2024) -- The King's College men's soccer team hosted Penn College on Sunday afternoon for their home opener at McCarthy Field. The Monarchs moved to 2-0-0 after beating the Wildcats 1-0.

In the 17^th minute, senior Trevor Jones was able to sneak a shot past Penn College's goalkeeper Cole Catherman off of a feed from sophomore Evan Corcoran to put the Monarchs ahead 1-0.

First-year head coach Brandon Raynor's team was able to maintain a steady pace throughout the remainder of the first half, recording eight shots alongside four corner kicks, compared to Penn's two shots and 1 corner kick opportunity. After a competitive 45 minutes, the game remained 1-0 as both teams headed into the locker rooms for halftime.

Both teams ran into some foul trouble throughout the second half, committing a total of five each. A yellow card was issued to two Wildcats, Tommy DeGeyter in the 54^th minute and Scott Goldfeder in minute 85.

Mark Atherton led King's in shot attempts with seven, but neither team's offensive efforts were able to translate over to goals in the second half.

First-year goalkeeper Ben VanValkenburg was able to secure a shutout in his first collegiate start.

King's will head to Washington, D.C. for the Turk Emekli Classic from Friday, September 6 to Sunday, September 8. The Monarchs are set to face Penn State Behrend at 4 p.m. on Friday and Catholic University at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. Both games will be held at Carlini Field.

--MONARCHS--