ITHACA, NY (September 13, 2025) – The King's College men's soccer team dropped a non-conference matchup against Ithaca College on Saturday afternoon by a score of 1-0. With the result, the Monarchs fall to 2-2-1 while the Bombers improve to 5-0 on the season.

In the 20^th minute, an Ithaca breakaway forced King's keeper Ben Van Valkenburg off his line for a sliding stop. On the ensuing clearance attempt, the Bombers quickly regained possession and fired a shot just under the crossbar to take a 1–0 lead.

The Monarchs' first chance—and their lone shot on goal in the first half—came in the eighth minute when Jackson Nuttall fired a low drive through a crowd of Bomber defenders. The Ithaca keeper read it well and made a clean save to keep the score level before the Bombers capitalized in the 20^th.

Both teams entered the halftime break even with three shots each and a shot on goal while Ithaca held a 4-3 edge on corner kicks.

In the 52^nd minute, Brayden Lane generated the second shot on goal for the Monarchs with a strike from about 25 yards out that was saved by the Ithaca keeper.

King's continued to generate opportunities in the second half but were unable to find the equalizer. The best chance for the Monarchs came in the 80^th minute when senior forward Philip Permyashkin was fouled by a Bomber defender just outside the box. From about 20 yards out, Permyashkin's low-running shot slid just left of the mark as Ithaca held on for the remaining 10 minutes to secure the narrow 1-0 win.

Despite the final score, Van Valkenburg delivered a standout performance on Saturday, recording six saves and repeatedly charging out of the box for aggressive clears late in the second half to keep the ball pinned in Ithaca's half.

Permyashkin led King's in shots on Saturday with two while Lane, Nuttall, James Leonard and Matt Maraia each took a shot for the Monarchs.

King's men's soccer is back in action on Wednesday, September 17, as they head to Edwardsville, PA to take on Wilkes University at 7:00 PM.