LiveStatsLive VideoLive AudioThe Albright College men's lacrosse team travels to face defending national champion Stevenson with an NCAA automatic berth on the line, in tomorrow's Commonwealth Conference championship game.
The Lions are playing in their second Commonwealth championship in three years as a varsity program, but are one game away from an NCAA bid for the first time. Albright hosted Widener in the 2012 Commonwealth title game, with that year's winner needing to play the Freedom Conference champion for an automatic bid.
Albright (11-5) defeated Widener 12-7 late last night, in a game that ended around 11 p.m. after an hour lightning delay and a later start time due to track & field championships in Chester.
#3 Stevenson (16-2) absolutely crushed Lycoming in their semifinal, jumping out to a 22-2 lead with four minutes still remaining in the third quarter of an eventual 24-5 victory.
It was much closer when the Mustangs came to Shirk Stadium in March. The Lions did not trail for the first 25-plus minutes, and led 3-0 after the first quarter despite having a goal called off in the opening period.
In the third minute,
Andrew Potter made a great move past a defender and found his brother
Philip Potter in front of goal. Unfortunately, the play was called off due to a foot in the crease.
T.J. Holston finally opened the scoring on a man-up goal with 4:39 left in the quarter, off an assist from freshman
Derek Stump.
Ryan Turner and
Cam Cetrone tacked on goals in the final 1:15 of the period.
Stevenson stormed back into a 6-5 halftime lead with three man-up goals in a stretch of 53 seconds, on three separate penalties.
Billy Burgoyne tallied after a slash, and
Stephen Banick made the Lions pay on consecutive man-up opportunities.
Albright is facing the #3 team in the nation for the third time this season. Stevenson was also #3 in that regular season meeting (and when they played the Red and White in 2013), as was Cortland State when the Red Dragons came here in February. The Lions are facing their fifth ranked opponent this season, and eighth in two years.
Faceoffs will be a major key in the game. Stevenson's
Brent Hiken is a returning All-American, and leads the conference in both faceoff percentage (.690) and ground balls (7.8/game). Albright junior
Darian Meador ranks in the top-three in both categories.
Lion goaltender
Jordan DiZenzo made 12 saves last night, and also stopped 17 shots in the regular season meeting with Stevenson. Mustangs goalie
Dimitri Pecunes, a sophomore, was a third team Preseason All-American.
The Mustangs' two losses have come to #2 RIT and #3 Salisbury. Stevenson defeated RIT 16-14 in Philadelphia to win last year's Division III national championship.
Game time is 7 p.m. in Mustang Stadium on Saturday night.
