READING, Pa. – The Albright men's lacrosse team begins its quest for their first-ever Commonwealth Conference Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday (April 29) when it visits Messiah for a 4 p.m. game.

The Lions are the No.3 seed in the tournament after compiling a 13-3 overall record with a 6-2 mark in the Commonwealth.  The Falcons finished the season 11-4 overall with an identical 6-2 conference mark.

Messiah defeated Albright 9-8 in overtime on April 15 at the Starry Athletic Complex in the regular season to earn the second seed and the right to host the rematch.

The other semifinal match will feature the top seed, Stevenson, and Widener which defeated Lebanon Valley 9-6 to advance to the semifinals.

The highest remaining seed will host the championship match on Saturday with an automatic berth into the NCAA Championships on the line.

It is the first postseason meeting between the Falcons and the Lions. The schools have split the first four meetings with the home team coming away with the victory in each contest.

Albright will have to turn that trend around if it is to make its third trip to the Commonwealth championship game in four years.

The Lions have reached the conference tournament in each of its four years in existence, and have advanced to the championship game in two of its first three seasons.

Albright owns a 2-3 record in tournament action and is seeking its first crown after falling twice in the finals by scores of 7-5 in 2012 to Widener and 11-10 at Stevenson a year ago.

The regular season game between the clubs was a see-saw affair that saw Albright jump out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Philip Potter and Ryan Turner, but Messiah responded with a four-goal outburst to take a 4-2 lead. Potter tallied with 1:59 to play in the first half to cut the deficit to 4-3 after 30 minutes.

The Falcons took command with the first three goals after the break and led 7-3 with 7:13 remaining in the third period.

T.J. Holston scored just nine seconds later to key an Albright 4-0 run that saw goals from Ryan Eber and James Egleston and was finished off by Holston, to tie the game at 7-7 with 38 seconds left in the third period.

Drew Pagenkopf restored the Falcons lead with 12:25 left in the fourth, only to have Ryan Turner knot things up at 8-8 with a goal at the 9:31 mark.

The game was scoreless the rest of the way and went into overtime tied at 8-8.

After a shot by Holston was stopped by Messiah keeper Sam Stengel, the Falcons captured the loose ball, and the victory, as Tyler Goglio scored from Pagenkopf with 1:45 showing on the clock.

Potter, Holston and Turner each scored two goals and added an assist for the Lions.

Potter was the leading scorer in the Commonwealth Conference in 2015 with 59 points. The senior scored 31 goals and has dished out a conference leading 28 assists.

Holston topped the conference with 37 goals and added 14 assists for a total of 51 points which put him fourth in the league.

Turner scored 26 goals and Cam Cetrone also surpassed the 20-goal plateau with 21 on the season.

Goglio was the Falcons leading scorer with 36 points on 22 goals and 14 assists, while Pagenkopf tied for the team lead with 14 assists and added 11 goals to finish with 25 points. Blake Knobloch was the second-leading goal scorer with 21 for Messiah.