READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions field hockey team will travel to face the #1 ranked Messiah Falcons in the semifinals of the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Commonwealth Tournament on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m.
 
Tickets: The MAC mandates the prices for adults at $5, senior citizens at $4, Students (with valid ID) and children $2, and for children under 6 with an adult are free. All tickets can be purchased at the gate.
 
Live Coverage: The Messiah sports information office will provide live video and live stats for the game at http://www.gomessiah.tv/ . Live updates will also be available throughout the game on the official Twitter feed for Albright athletics (@AlbrightLions).
 
MAC Commonwealth Tournament: Albright is the No. 4 seed in the tournament and faces the No. 1 seed Messiah. Widener earned the No. 3 seed and will travel to face the No. 2 seed Alvernia on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The winners of the semifinal matchups will play in the championship game on Saturday at the highest remaining seed.
 
Records: Albright enters the tournament with a 9-8 overall record with a 4-3 mark in conference play. The Lions have won three of their last five games in the last week, capped by a dominant 5-0 win over McDaniel on Saturday afternoon in non-conference play. Messiah ended the regular season at 17-0 overall behind a 7-0 record in league action, their third straight season with a perfect conference record.
 
Scouting the Lions: Albright ranks in the top five in the majority of the major statistical categories in the conference, including being ranked third with 174 penalty corners. In net, junior Aileen Taylor has tallied nearly 1,200 minutes in goal and is tied for the league lead in shutouts with six. She has posted a career-best 1.73 goals-against average (GAA), which is third best in the conference, and tallied 81 saves while starting in 17 games. Senior Amanda Long is tied for sixth in the conference with a team-best 10 goals, and classmate Tracy Snyder ranks third with 4.29 shots per game.
 
Lions in the Playoffs: Albright has now made the MAC Commonwealth Tournament in two of the last three seasons after never making it to the tournament prior to that. In 2015 the Lions also faced Messiah in the semifinals. They are looking for their first-ever MAC Commonwealth Tournament win.
 
Scouting the Falcons: The defending national champions lead the conference in most statistical categories, and have held the No. 1 spot in the NFHCA rankings all season. They have outscored conference opponents 34-2 in seven games, while holding each opponent to one goal or less since the season opener. Senior Carissa Gehman is tied for third in Division III with 26 goals and junior goalkeeper Shelby Landes holds the lowest GAA in the country with 0.54.
 
The Falcons in the Playoffs: Messiah has won 10 straight MAC Commonwealth Championships and is making its 17^th straight appearance in the conference Tournament overall. They have also made 16 straight NCAA Tournament appearances as well.
 
Last Meeting: Albright pushed the No.1 Falcons to overtime last Thursday before suffering a 2-1 loss. The Lions became the second team to force overtime against the Falcons this season, and just the second MAC Commonwealth team to score a goal on them. Long tied the game in the 18^th minute after Messiah opened the scoring just 1:33 into the game. Taylor played valiantly in the loss as she made 11 saves, including two penalty strokes. In overtime, the Falcons took advantage with the game-winning goal in the 75^th minute just after Lions senior Cassidy Barrow was issued a yellow card to leave them down a player.  
 
Head Coaches: Sarah Brant has posted a 50-63 record in six seasons as the head coach of Albright. She led the Lions to their first ever MAC Commonwealth Tournament appearance in 2015, while setting a school record in wins with 12. Last season, Brant led another team to a postseason berth with an appearance in the ECAC Tournament.
 
Brooke Good is in her sixth season as the head coach of Messiah. She has registered a 102-24 record as her time as head coach, including leading the Falcons to their first ever national championship last season. Along with the national championship, Good has won the MAC Commonwealth Tournament in every season as head coach in addition to appearing in the NCAA Tournament in every season.
 
Up Next: The winner will advance to the championship game of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament on Saturday at the highest remaining seed.