PITTSTON, PA (February 6, 2025) -- The King's College men's ice hockey team saw their three-game point streak come to an end on Friday evening after losing a close game to Stevenson in a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) showdown by a score of 2-0 at the Revolution Ice Centre. The Monarchs move to 4-15-2 on the season and 4-11-2 in conference play, while the Mustangs improve to 14-6-1 overall and 12-3-1 in the MAC.
 
Zane Burleigh started off the game with a shot in the first 30 seconds of action that was turned aside by Stevenson's goaltender. At the other end of the ice, Monarch netminder Ben Williams made a trio of saves in the first minute of the period.
 
King's was assessed a holding minor at 1:44, but managed to contain Stevenson's offense and only allowed one shot on target, which was stopped by Williams.
 
As the period progressed, the Mustangs took a penalty for diving at 6:27, opening the door for the Monarchs to score. The team registered one shot during the power play, as Grant Parshall's bid was blocked by a Stevenson defender. King's kept the offense moving in the eighth minute but failed to score, as Thomas Soucy fired a shot that sailed wide and Erik Hegyi's attempt was denied.
 
Williams racked up two more saves in the ninth minute of play to keep the game scoreless. A pair of Mustangs were sent to the penalty box at 10:49, giving the Monarchs a 5-on-3 man advantage. The power play saw several good looks on shots from Steven Armstrong, Soucy, and Teodor Benno Vaage, but visitors' defense prevailed and kept the game knotted at 0-0.
 
The Monarchs kept the offense moving after the powerplay expired, as Denys Arkhypenko, Bennett Anklewich, and Hegyi all recorded shots within a three-minute span. The Mustangs goaltender stood tall and denied all three attempts.
 
As time dwindled in the first period, Williams pulled off two more huge stops in the 16th minute. With just under two minutes to go in the first frame, King's headed back to the penalty kill. The defense showed no signs of yielding a goal, however, as Benno Vaage and Jayden Baldinelli came up clutch with timely blocks while Williams made another big save to keep the game scoreless heading into the first intermission.
 
In the first minute of the second period, Braydon Buckingham ripped a shot that was denied by the Mustangs' goaltender. In a span of two minutes, Williams added four stops to his resume to keep the game deadlocked at 0-0. Williams continued his strong outing with his fifth save of the period in as many minutes.
 
Stevenson's goalie made a pair of saves in short succession as Parshall and Anklewich both had their shots rejected. Parshall found himself in another opportunity to score at 5:57, but the Mustangs defender blocked his attempt. 
 
In the seventh minute of play, Baldinelli had a shot blocked while teammate Cristo Walker responded with a shot of his own that was saved. At 7:31, the Mustangs were assessed another penalty, sending the Monarchs back to the man advantage.
 
The Monarchs posted four shots on the power play but couldn't cash in, as Landon Bechtolt and Justin Spurrell had their shots blocked, Benno Vaage's shot sailed wide, and Parshall's attempt at goal was denied by the netminder.
 
King's continued to generate opportunities in the offensive zone, but couldn't find a way to score. Arkhypenko, Hegyi and Benno Vaage all had scoring chances denied during the middle portion of the period.
 
Near the final two minutes of the second frame, Williams managed to pull off two more timely stops to keep the game scoreless heading into the final 20 minutes of play.
 
The third period opened with a netminding masterclass by Williams who made a point-blank save on a shot right in front of net.
The Monarchs played strong defense at the start of the final frame, with Williams adding three saves to his total and Baldinelli blocking a key shot to keep the game scoreless. However, the Mustangs finally broke through at 4:59 to take a 1-0 lead.
 
The Monarchs quickly attempted to respond with two shots from Baldinelli and Parshall, but were both denied by the goaltender. Near the eighth minute, Williams stopped two more shots while Kevin Martin blocked a shot to keep King's within a goal of tying the game. Soucy and Armstrong put two shots on target, but couldn't solve the Mustang goaltender.
 
Benno Vaage almost tied the game for the Monarchs at 11:56, but his wrist shot was stopped by Stevenson's goalie.
 
The Monarchs headed to another penalty kill 15:04. Despite a trio of saves from Williams during the visitors' power play, the Mustangs scored to take a 2-0 lead at 16:39.
 
King's tried to answer back with a shot by Buckingham less than 20 seconds after the goal, but his attempt was blocked by the visitors defender.
 
As time dwindled in the period, the Monarchs continued to press offensively with Gallagher and Spurrell both putting shots on goal, but Stevenson's goaltender denied both attempts to close out the 2-0 result.
 
The Monarchs finished the game with 25 shots on goal, as Parshall and Hegyi each recorded three shots to share the team lead. Parshall paced the team in the faceoff circle, winning 14 draws while Walker added seven to help King's tally 33 wins on the night.
 
Defensively, King's blocked 12 shots, led by Baldinelli with three. Williams finished the game with 29 saves on the night.
 
The Monarchs return to action at the Revolution Ice Centre on tomorrow afternoon, hosting Lebanon Valley in a MAC showdown. Puck drop against the Flying Dutchmen is slated for 4:00 p.m.