EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. — Wilkes women’s lacrosse took on the King’s College Monarchs in a MAC Freedom matchup on Wednesday night at Schmidt Stadium. King’s College won the game 14-7, which improved their record.

The Colonels record going into the game was 6-2 while the Monarchs record was 3-8

Prior to Wednesday’s game, junior Sarah Carlini was named the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom offensive player of the week. This was her first time winning a conference weekly award and she’s the first Colonel to get the award since the 2015 season.

“It really meant a lot to me honestly,” remarked Carlini. “To be able to help my team any way I can, it just meant a lot.”

The Colonels had Carlini as the goalkeeper for Wednesday’s game. King’s College sent sophomore Orla Cottell to defend their net.

The game started out relatively fast paced and both teams had a lot of momentum early on. King’s took the lead when Jen O’Connor scored at 28:06 though.

Less than a minute later, O’Connor got her second goal of the game with an assist from freshman Brianna Raucci increasing the lead to two.

Freshman Emily Sims increased the lead for the Monarchs when she scored about five minutes later making it 3-0.

Wilkes got on the board at 21:28 with a goal from freshman Camryn Devitt. This made the game 3-1. Sophomore Ashley Burkhardt then scored making it 3-2.

Sophomore Emma Lehman answered back with another goal for King’s at 16:38 making it 4-2 giving the Monarchs a two – point lead once again.

With 9:47 to go in the first half, O’Connor scored her third goal of the game for King’s making the game 5-2.

Sophomore Kylie McCarthy increased the Monarchs lead minutes later with another goal giving them a four- point lead.

Lehman got her second goal of the game making it 7-2 and the first half ended with the Colonels trailing by five points.

The score and shots on goal both favored King’s at the end of the first half. King’s had 17 shots on goal while Wilkes had 5.

They changed the things they needed to and in the second half came out with a lot of momentum with Burkhardt scoring her second goal of the game just three minutes in making it 7-3.

“The changes we made as a team were to keep the game at a fast pace,” Burkhardt said.

King’s added to their lead once again with a goal from sophomore Mary Kate Klodarska assisted by Sims.

Burkhardt scored her third and fourth goals of the game just minutes later making it 8-5.

“It felt great scoring four goals for the team with the help of my teammates,” Burkhardt said. “I have them to thank for my goals during the game.”

The Colonels seemed to be making a comeback, but King’s increased the lead with goals from  McCarthy and Klodarska making it 10-5.

Duman and Devitt for the Colonels both scored a goal for the team minutes later so Wilkes was only trailing by three points.

King’s increased the lead once more though with goals from O’Connor and Lehman less than a minute apart giving them a five – point lead.

O’Connor and Sims also scored for the Monarchs during the second half and the game ended with the Colonels trailing by seven points.

“We need to work together as a team more,” said  head coach Sarah Burkarth looking ahead to Saturday’s contest against Manhattanville.

“The main focus for the team going into Saturday’s game is working together and communicating on both offense and defense,” said Burkhardt on the MAC Freedom matchup against Manhattanville.

“It’s important for us to stay faster than the other team and be one step ahead in order for us to win this conference game.”

Manhattanville won Saturday’s contest at Schmidt Stadium, 20-9.