READING, Pa. – Albright College women's soccer hosts Commonwealth Conference rival Arcadia University on Wednesday night in its final match of the regular season, which could determine the fate of the Lions post-season hopes and a berth in the conference tournament.
A 2-0 loss at Widener on Saturday kept Albright (7-9-1, 3-4 CC) from clinching a playoff spot and left the Lions in fifth place with nine points in conference action. The Pride (5-8-3, 2-4-1 CC) has seven points, and has moved within two points of the fifth spot with the top five teams making the tournament. The fourth place team will host the fifth place team in a play-in game, on Monday November 3, to determine who advances to take on the number one seed.
Albright would guarantee a spot in the play-in game with a victory on Wednesday night when they host Arcadia (13-4, 4-2 CC) who sit in fourth place in the conference with 12 points. The Lions would also make the tournament with a tie or loss by Widener who travel to Lycoming on Saturday. Albright still has a chance to take fourth place and host Arcadia with a win on Wednesday and loss by the Knights who finish its season hosting No.1 Messiah on Saturday.
Four spots have been secured for the tournament, but the order is still to be determined between four schools that all have two games remaining. Messiah and Stevenson who played to a 1-1 tie, head the table with 16 points with identical 5-0-1 records, Lebanon Valley is 5-1 with 15 points and Arcadia who are 4-2 in the conference has 12 points.
Albright will need to find some offense if it is to secure a spot in the post-season. The Lions have been shutout in three consecutive losses, and have not scored since
Lyra Biancamano sent home the game winner in the 89
th minute in a 2-1 win over Alvernia on October 16.
Unfortunately for the Lions, the Knights have only allowed two goals in conference play this season. Arcadia has surrendered only seven goals while scoring 39 in 2014.
Emily Sousa, who registered Albright's only two shots on goal in the loss to Widener on Saturday, leads the offense with eight goals and three assist for 19 points. Lennon Kramer is the leading scorer for Arcadia with 12 goals and three assists for 27 points and Kim Canfield tops the conference with 11 assists.
Wednesday is also senior night as the Lions will recognize and honor the contributions that senior's
Paige Pierson and
Erin Hand have made to the program in their time at Albright.
The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start, at Shirk Stadium; you can also follow along with the action with
Live Stats.