PITTSTON, PA (February 20, 2026) -- The King's College men's ice hockey team closed out their 2025-26 slate on Friday night with a thrilling 3-3 tie against Neumann University, dropping the extra point to the Knights in a lengthy shootout. The Monarchs finish their season with a 4-17-4 overall record and a 4-13-4 mark in the MAC. The Knights move to 15-8-2 overall and 14-5-2 in conference play, entering the 2026 MAC Men's Ice Hockey Championships as the number one seed.
 
Prior to the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) contest, graduating senior Denys Arkhypenko was honored with a pregame ceremony commemorating his time in the Red and Gold.

King's established its rhythm from the opening faceoff and quickly earned the game's first power play at 2:42. Steven Armstrong and Braydon Buckingham put pucks on target during the two‑minute stretch, but the advantage expired and the teams returned to five‑on‑five. Williams set the tone soon after with a windmill glove stop at 7:47 following a cross‑crease pass, a momentum-building play that punctuated an early stand in the defensive zone.
 
King's built steadily after the pivotal stop by Williams, leaning on shots from Cristo Walker and Justin Spurrell to keep the visitors in their end, while Michael Harrel Jr. stacked a pair of blocks to erase looks by the Knights. Thomas Soucy and Zane Burleigh added pushes that forced saves, while Gianmarco Caringi drove a chance wide before Erik Hegyi generated his best sequence with consecutive in‑tight attempts that were turned aside and a third bid that missed the target as the period tightened.
 
With the period winding down, Parshall fought through traffic on a zone entry and quickly shifted from backhand to forehand, roofing a shot that snuck by the goalie's glovehand side. Parshall's eighth tally of the season came at 18:49 and gave the Monarchs a 1-0 edge.
 
King's drew another man advantage at 19:41 and generated one last look on a shot by Buckingham before the horn to take the lead into the room.
 
Despite getting assessed a high sticking minor just 25 seconds into the period, the Monarchs continued to apply pressure through the four-on-four stretch of play as Teodor Benno Vaage, Bennett Anklewich and Mikey Harrel Jr. all registered shots on goal. After play returned to five-aside, Williams came up clutch with a pair of saves and received some help in the form of blocks by Spurrell and Jayden Baldinelli.
 
The Monarchs doubled their advantage at 3:46, when a misplayed puck by Neumann in their offensive zone led to an odd man rush coming the other way. Hegyi crashed the net and finished off a centering feed from Gianmarco Caringi to make it 2-0. Caringi picked up a helper on Hegyi's first of the season.
 
Williams preserved the two‑goal cushion with a point‑blank save from the slot at 6:30, tracking cleanly and freezing the puck to stabilize the shift.
 
The Knights answered during their best spell of the frame, cutting the deficit in half midway through the period. Williams delivered a spectacular defensive sequence following the goal; stopping a Knight breakaway in transition with back‑to‑back saves at 12:07 and 12:09.
 
Despite Williams' efforts, Neumann found the equalizer at 14:57 to make it 2-2. A cluster of matching minors at 18:05 reset the groups and King's managed the final shifts to the second intermission deadlocked at 2-2.
 
Special teams dictated the third frame. A Neumann penalty at 10:33 sent King's to the power play, and Spurrell cashed in six seconds later with a blistering wrist shot from the top of the circle to restore the lead at 3-2. Harrel Jr. was credited with the assist on Spurrel's second goal of the season, a power play marker at 10:39.
 
The Knights earned a power play on the next sequence and converted at 12:04 to tie it once again, setting up a final push from both sides.
 
King's leaned on details down the stretch, with Kevin Martin steady on key defensive‑zone faceoffs and the back end clearing second pucks to the walls. A late tripping call at 19:28 put the Monarchs shorthanded to the horn, and Williams handled the last look to force overtime. The penalty killers stayed compact through the final seconds of regulation to complete the assignment.
 
Overtime opened with a carryover kill that ran to 1:28, with Williams turning aside early shots as the unit sealed the middle and limited second chances. A delay‑of‑game call at 2:02 sent King's back to the kill, forcing the group to stack clears while Williams turned aside multiple attempts to finish the two‑minute stand. Back at even strength in the closing minute, Soucy and Martin each produced clean looks from the slot before the frame ended scoreless.
 
The shootout proved to be a goaltender duel. Soucy converted in the second round to give King's a 1-0 lead before the Knights answered in the third to keep the game alive. After both sides missed in the fourth, the visitors scored in the fifth and the Monarchs' final response was turned away, sealing the extra point for Neumann.
 
Parshall, Hegyi and Spurrell accounted for the three Monarch goals while Caringi and Harrel Jr. collected assists. Soucy and Hegyi each produced a team-high five shots. Spurrell and Walker followed with four shots apiece. Martin was dominant in the faceoff circle, winning 15 of his 20 draws. Armstrong snapped back 10 faceoff wins of his own.
 
Harrel Jr. put together a clinic in the defensive zone, laying out for six blocks on the night. He was followed by Baldinelli with four. Williams delivered another standout performance between the pipes, making 36 saves.