Field Hockey

FREEDOM CONFEENCE SEMIFINALS
King's College 6, Delaware Valley College 3

WILKES-BARRE (PA) -- Lindsay Sabo scored two goals and distributed a pair of assists as top-seeded and nationally-ranked King's College posted a 6-3 victory over fourth-seeded Delaware Valley College in a Freedom Conference semifinal match-up Wednesday at Betzler Fields.

With the win, the Lady Monarchs, ranked 20th in Divison III, improved to 18-3 on the year and reached the conference finals for the second straight year and three of the last four seasons.

The Aggies and new head coach Carol Di Girolamo, who were picked to finish last in the preseason coaches poll, ended their season with a 10-9 mark and a playoff appearance for the first time since 2003.

King's came out of the gates quickly as Christina Glenn scored unassisted off a rocket shot just inside the penalty circle at 28:25 of the first half. The Lady Monarchs pushed the lead to 2-0 when Debbie Wychock drilled in a shot off a feed from Glenn following a penalty corner at 22:32.

Lindsay Sabo made it 3-0 when she struck net off an assist from Sarah McGrady with 4:51 left in the opening stanza. Delaware Valley, however took advantage of a penalty corner late in the half when Bethany Pavlik scored her 12th goal of the season on an entry pass from Shannon Shivak with no time remaining on the clock. The assist extended Shivak's single-season record to nine and it helped bring the Aggies to within 3-1 at the break.

In the second stanza, Delaware Valley cut the King's lead to one goal when Michelle Cernobyl scored tallied her 12th goal of the season off a Pavlik assist with 27:58 remaining in the contest.

However, King's answered just 19 seconds later when Sabo tallied her second goal off an assist from McGrady to give the Lady Monarchs a 4-2 advantage. King's added to its lead when Megan Farrell redirected a lead pass from Sabo to give the Lady Monarchs a 5-2 lead with 24:14 on the clock.

The Aggies attempted to rally when Cernobyl scored again on a rebounded shot with 13:03 left to cut the lead to 5-3. Cernobyl, a sophomore, finished the year with team-highs in both goals (13) and points (29).

King's put the game with 1:39 remaining as Ave' Moran tapped in a pass from Sabo for the 6-3 final. The Lady Monarchs outshot Delaware Valley 16-12 and held a 12-8 advantage in penalty corners. King's goalie Kari Leach had nine saves in the game while Aggie keeper Jackie Deschenes made eight stops, including a save on a penalty stroke by Wychock with 3:49 left in the contest.