WILKES-BARRE- The Wilkes University men's lacrosse team opened Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom play with a 12-6 setback at King's College on Wednesday evening.

The Colonels fell to 0-1 in MAC Freedom play and 3-6 overall.

The Monarch's started the scoring first, netting two goals through the first two minutes.

Wilkes got on the board when sophomore JT Weitzel (Hampstead, MD/North Carroll) scored a man-up with an assist from junior Nicholas Ruggiero (Califon, NJ/Voorhees). The Colonels tied the game with 8:35 left in the first quarter when sophomore John Wink (Glenside, Pa./Abington) scored with an assist from freshman John Luna (Valley Center, CA/Valley Center).

King's then scored four straight goals to jump in front 6-2 with 10:47 in the third quarter.

Ruggiero ended the slide with an unassisted goal at 7:15 in the third to cut the deficit to 6-3.

The Monarch's added two more goals to enter the fourth quarter with an 8-3 lead.

Wilkes started the fourth quarter with two goals, junior Matt LaSorsa (Copiague, N.Y./Copiague) with an assist from Luna at 9:36, and freshman Connor Daly (Oakhurst, NJ/Ocean Twp.) assisted by junior Jeremy Kachel (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) at 8:26.

King's put the game away with four goals in a row before sophomore Matthew Bush (Lake Hopatcong, N.J./Jefferson Twp.) finished the scoring with an unassisted tally to reach the final score.

Luna (two assists) and Ruggiero (one goal, one assist) led the Colonels.

Freshman Carter Whittemore (Rochester, NY/West Irondequoit) made seven saves in the game.

Wilkes returns to action on Saturday when it will host Delaware Valley for a 1:00 p.m. MAC Freedom game.