WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 25, 2025)— The King's College men's soccer team dropped a tightly contested MAC Freedom matchup to DeSales University on Saturday afternoon at McCarthy Stadium, falling by a score of 1–0. With the result, the Monarchs move to 2-10-5 overall and 0-3-2 in conference play while the Bulldogs improve to 4-9-3 overall and 1-2-2 in the MAC Freedom.

Both sides traded limited opportunities in a scoreless first half. Sophomore goalkeeper Ben Van Valkenburg kept the Monarchs level with a pair of key saves, including stops in the 21^st and 35^th minutes to keep the Bulldogs off the board.

On the attacking end, Jackson Nuttall and Christian Rua each registered early efforts for King's, but neither found the target as the teams entered the halftime break deadlocked at 0–0.

DeSales broke through just under two minutes into the second half when JohnPaul Mazza converted a set piece from Joseph Reteneller to give the Bulldogs a 1–0 advantage in the 47^th minute.

King's responded with its strongest stretch of play in the match, outshooting DeSales 8–2 in the second half and earning a corner kick. Philip Permyashkin led the charge for the Monarchs, firing four shots, including the team's lone effort on goal in the 62^nd minute that forced a save from the DeSales keeper.

CJ Anderson and Santiago Javadpour each added late looks as King's pressed for an equalizer, but the Bulldogs' defense held firm to preserve the one-goal result.

Van Valkenburg finished the night with three saves in 90 minutes of action, while Permyashkin led all Monarchs with four shots and one on goal.

As a team, King's outshot DeSales 10–5 and held a 4–1 advantage in corner kicks, while both teams battled physically with a combined 24 fouls and seven yellow cards.

King's men's soccer returns to action on Tuesday, October 28, when they travel to Annville, PA, to face Lebanon Valley College at 3:30 PM.