WILKES-BARRE, PA (April 2, 2025) -- Trialing 12-7 heading into the fourth, the King's College women's lacrosse team out scored the visiting Misericordia University 5-3 in the final period but came up shy in the 15-12 setback in their Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) opener. The Monarchs drop to 4-5 overall and 0-1 in the standings, while the Cougars move to 3-7 with a 1-0 MAC Freedom mark.
 
The teams traded goals over the first 8:01 of play before Misericordia (3-7, 1-0 MAC Freedom) before the Cougars scored four unanswered to hold a 5-2 lead after the first quarter of play.
 
The visitors then had a 2-1 edge in the goal column through the first 4:32 of the second before a goal by Emilee Schultz off a feed from Sarah Schultz sparked a three-goal spurt by the Monarchs to close within one, 7-6, with 4:37 to go in the half. Misericordia had the final say before the break, tacking on another tally with 1:53 left as King's (4-5, 0-1 MAC Freedom) trailed, 8-6, at halftime.
 
King's hung tight in the third as Sydney Stratton put the Monarchs on the board in the frame with a free position goal with 1:32 left, but the Monarchs did not go away quietly as they faced a 12-7 deficit heading into the fourth.
 
Chloe Burke found the back of the net in a man-up opportunity thanks to an assist from Maria Schneider 57 ticks into the period, but Misericordia responded with back-to-back scores. A goal from Schneider off an assist from Lindsay opened three-goal rally by the Monarchs to cut the Cougar advantage to just three, 14-11, with 8:28 to play. Misericordia scored once more with 5:45 on the clock, but despite a goal by Lindsay with 2:19 remaining, the Monarchs could not complete the comeback in the 15-12 setback to open MAC Freedom play.
 
Lindsay led the team with seven points on three goals and four assists off six shots with eight draw control wins, including the 100^th of her career, while Burke had a hat trick of three goals on four shots with three ground balls, three caused turnovers, and three draw controls. Emilee Schultz finished with three points on two goals and a helper, and Stratton posted a team-high tying six shots with her two goals and pair of ground balls. Schneider collected a team-best six ground balls, and Alyssa Reeber finished with 12 saves in the net.
 
Both Delaney Campanella and Rachel Shook finished with four points on three goals and an assist, as Shook totaled a team-high eight shots and nine draw controls. Ryan Gross made six saves and had seven ground balls, and Jordyn Johnson caused one turnover.
 
King's forced 17 Cougar turnovers while collecting 20 ground balls.
 
The Monarchs will head down to Annville, Pa. to take on Lebanon Valley College in their first MAC Freedom road test on Saturday afternoon. The match up with the Flying Dutchmen is set for 1:00 p.m.