EDWARDSVILLE – The Wilkes University field hockey team scored a huge Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) victory over King's College by a 5-3 final at Schmidt Stadium on Wednesday afternoon in its final home contest of the season.

The Colonels improved to 4-1 in conference and 8-7 overall with the victory, moving out of a tie with King's, who entered the game with equal 3-1 records in conference.

King's spent the majority of the first 16 minutes in the Wilkes defensive zone, outshooting the Colonels 7-2 but it was Wilkes who broke through first right at the 17-minute mark when Maddie Kelley (Dallas, PA/Dallas) poked home a rebound for an unassisted goal.

The Monarchs did not take long to equalize the score with an unassisted goal in the 19^th minute.

The Colonels retook the lead in the 31^st minute when Lauren Shiplett (Mountaintop, PA/Crestwood) took a penalty corner pass and found Haley Gayoski (Forty Fort, PA/Wyoming Valley West) at the top of the circle for a backhand laser into the lower right corner of the cage and a 2-1 lead.

As with the first goal, King's responded immediately, tying the game in the 33^rd minute.

Wilkes capped off an offense-packed first half with its third goal when Lauren Baldwin (Clarks Summit, PA/Lackawanna Trail) picked up a rebound and stuffed it home as the Colonels entered halftime with a 3-2 advantage.

The Colonels took a two-goal advantage in the 38^th minute when Ali Dunn (Pittston, PA/Pittston) picked up the ball following a scrum in front of the goalie and placed a shot far side for a 4-2 advantage.

Wilkes continued its early-second half outburst when Zoe Stepanski (Dallas, PA/Dallas) found Gayoski on the top right of the circle for another backhander that found its way through the defense to the back of the cage for  5-2 lead in the 40^th minute leading to a King's timeout.

Play began to tilt in King's favor late in the second half and it cut the deficit to 5-3 in the 63^rd minute following a save from Dallas Kendra (Mountaintop, PA/Crestwood) off a penalty corner, but the Colonels defense held strong to finish the game.

Kendra had a fine afternoon with 12 saves, a season-high for the senior.

Wilkes returns to the field on Saturday when it travels to DeSales for a 12:00 p.m. conference game.