OCTOBER 31, 2007
KING'S FIELD HOCKEY REACHES FREEDOM CONFERENCE
FINAL WITH 2-1 WIN OVER DESALES
WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College field hockey
team build a 2-0 halftime lead and held off a late DeSales University
charge as the Lady Monarchs advanced to the Freedom Conference
championship game with a 2-1 semi-final victory Wednesday at Betzler
Fields.
With the win, top-seeded and defending conference
champion King's improved to 14-4 on the year and will play for the
Freedom Conference title for the third straight year and four of the
last five seasons. Fourth-seeded DeSales, meanwhile, ended its season
with a 8-11 record.
King's
opened the scoring at 27:12 of the first half off a penalty corner when
Debbie Wychock played the ball towards net and Meghan Farrell
redirected the ball across the goal mouth to a wide-open Sarah
McGrady (left). The Lady Monarch senior would then score on an easy
tap-in to put King's on top with 27:12 remaining in the first half.
King's would tack another goal at 19:12 when Ave' Moran (below
right) drilled a shot on goal that deflected off a DeSales stick into
the upper meshing of the net for a 2-0 King's half-time lead.
Early
in the second half, King's missed out on a few quality chances, allowing
DeSales to eventually close to within a goal when Meghan Iudicello
scored on a scramble in front of the net with 20:29 left in the contest.
The Bulldogs would press the action for much of the final portion of the
game but the King's defense held firm as the Lady Monarchs would walk
away with the victory.
King's outshot DeSales 11-10 while the Bulldogs held a 7-5 advantage in
penalty corners. Lady Monarch goalie Kari Leach made seven
saves while DeSales keeper Molly Pope posted eight stops.
King's will host
second-seeded FDU-Florham for the Freedom
Conference championship Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at Betzler Fields. FDU
defeated third-seeded Wilkes 2-0 in the other conference semi-final
game.
The
winner of the Freedom Conference Tournament will gain an automatic berth
into the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
