PITTSTON, PA (December 13, 2025) -- The King's College men's ice hockey team dropped a back-and-fourth Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) showdown with Misericordia by a score of 5-3, Saturday afternoon at the Revolution Ice Centre. The Monarchs move to 1-10-1 on the season and 1-6-1 in conference play, while the Cougars pick up their first win of the year to improve to 1-7-1 overall and 1-5-1 in the MAC.
 
Prior to warm-ups, King's honored goaltender Kenny Vought with a pregame ceremony to thank him for his time and dedication to the program.
 
Netminder Diego D'Alessandro was called into action early in the first period, turning aside a pair of shots within the first minute of play. The Cougars continued to swarm in their offensive zone, ringing the post and firing two more pucks that didn't make it to the net.

The Monarchs were assessed an interference minor just over three minutes into the first frame, however the penalty kill unit did a good job of containing Misericordia's offense - holding the team to one shot on goal during the unsuccessful man advantage.
 
The Cougars went right back to the power play at 5:48 and capitalized to take a 1-0 lead at 7:28. The visitors continued to push for offense; forcing D'Alessandro to make four more saves before the Monarchs took a bench minor for too many skaters on the ice. Misericordia's third power play came up empty, as King's registered a shorthanded bid by Zane Burleigh that was stopped by the Cougars' goaltender.
 
As time dwindled in the first period, the Monarchs took advantage of a costly turnover behind the goal line that was recovered by Grant Parshall during another King's penalty kill. Parshall quickly fired a no-angle shot that deflected off the Misericordia goalie and into the back of the net, barely beating the buzzer to tie the game up at 1-1. Parshall's fifth of the season came shorthanded and unassisted at 19:59 of the period, tying him with Cristo Walker for the team lead in goals.
 
Coming out of the intermission, Misericordia swiftly netted a power play marker just 52 seconds into the middle frame to reclaim a one-goal advantage.
 
After a brief stretch of end-to-end play involving several scoring chances for each team, the Monarchs answered back with a game-tying goal at 3:58 of the second period. After an odd man rush zone entry was disrupted by the Cougars, Kevin Martin collected the puck in the high slot, wheeled through open space and unleashed a wrist shot from the near-side faceoff circle that snuck past the goaltender. Martin's second goal of the season came unassisted and knotted things up at 2-2.
 
Shortly after the 2-2 marker, Misericordia was assessed an interference minor to send King's power play unit to the ice for the first time. The Monarchs did an excellent job of containing play to the offensive zone and cycling the puck around to generate looks on the man advantage. From behind the net, Thomas Soucy fed a tape-to-tape pass to Teodor Benno Vaage at the blue line. Benno Vaage faked a shot to disguise his pass to Logan Gallagher, who was wide open down low at the far side of the goal. Gallagher gathered the puck with his skate before one-timing a shot to the back of the net to give King's their first lead of the game. Benno Vaage and Soucy picked up helpers on Gallagher's power play marker; his fourth of the season at 5:00.
 
The Monarchs  continued to generate chances, including looks from Erik Hegyi and Braydon Buckingham  as the Monarchs pushed the pace in the offensive zone. Despite the pressure, the visitors answered on a power-play tally at 13:36 of the second to even the score at 3-3 heading into the final period.
 
The third period opened with King's defending early pressure, as D'Alessandro made several key saves within the opening two minutes to keep the game level. After successfully killing off a carryover penalty, the Monarchs earned a power-play opportunity at 2:37, but were unable to convert despite chances from Gallagher and Artsiom Barashkin. The teams traded momentum through the opening stretch, with both sides generating looks but neither breaking through.
 
Midway through the period, play became increasingly physical, resulting in offsetting penalties and another penalty kill for King's. D'Alessandro remained steady in net, turning aside multiple shots during the disadvantage, while Buckingham and Shota Kaneko contributed important blocks to limit second-chance opportunities. Once back at even strength, King's began to push offensively, stringing together a sustained sequence of pressure in the offensive zone.
That push included a flurry of chances late in the period, as Emil Pyyhtia, Soucy and Walker all tested the goaltender in quick succession around the 10-minute mark. Barashkin followed with multiple attempts, including a shot that rang off the post at 14:29, coming inches away from giving King's the lead. The Monarchs continued to press immediately after, firing three more shots in a span of seconds as momentum swung heavily toward the home bench.
Despite the pressure, the visitors broke through at 14:03 with an even-strength goal to regain the lead. King's pulled the goaltender late, but yielded an empty-net goal at 19:10 that extended the team's deficit to two. The Monarchs continued to battle until the final horn, creating several last-second looks on a late power play, but were unable to close the gap as the game came to an end with a 5-3 final score.
 
The Monarchs finished the game with 25 shots on goal, including goals from Parshall, Martin and Gallagher. Gallagher and Soucy each recorded four shots to share the team lead. Barashkin followed with three shots, while Walker added three more as the Monarchs received balanced contributions throughout the lineup. At the faceoff dot, Parshall paced the Monarchs by winning 16 draws, while Martin added 10 to help King's record 36 faceoff wins as a team.

Defensively, the Monarchs blocked 12 shots, led by Buckingham and Walker with two apiece, as the group worked to limit second-chance opportunities. D'Alessandro anchored the effort in net, turning aside 26 shots.
 
Following nearly a month-long winter break, the Monarchs return to action at the Revolution Ice Centre on Friday, January 9, hosting Lebanon Valley in a MAC clash. Puck drop against the Flying Dutchmen is slated for 7:00 p.m.