READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions women's soccer team was unable to overcome an early first half goal as they dropped a 1-0 contest to Lebanon Valley in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament play-in game on Tuesday night at Shirk Stadium.

The loss is the third straight loss for the Lions as they drop to 10-8-1 on the season overall. Meanwhile, the Dutchmen improve to 9-5-3 on the season and avenged a 1-0 overtime defeat to the Lions from earlier in October. This is the third straight season Albright has lost to the Dutchmen in the play-in game.

It took until the 11^th minute for either team to register a shot, but the Dutchmen completely controlled possession in the early part of the game. The pressure paid off in the 13^th minute when Teanna Shutt broke the scoreless tie to give the Dutchmen an early 1-0 lead. Shutt broke down the left side into the wing after a pass from teammate Maya Cohen, and beat Lions goalkeeper Alexis Tunney in the right corner of the net. Shutt nearly scored again three minutes later in the 17^th minute but this time was denied by Tunney. The Lions came close to leveling the score on a shot from senior Madison Balga that just went high of the top of the net after she was set up in the center of the box. Tunney needed to come up big again on a high Dutchmen shot in the 33^rd minute that she tipped out over the crossbar. Albright began to press late in the half and got a decent chance from senior Crissy Terraces that was saved.

Albright began keeping the majority of the possession to start the second half and had its best chance to tie the game in the 58^th minute. Freshman Amanda Fulcher sailed a shot off the crossbar after a perfect setup in front of the net. Both teams would then trade chances in the next 20 minutes as the game began to get very physical. The Lions had one last big chance in the contest on a shot from senior Morgan Valera in the 84^th minute that was poked high by the Dutchmen goalkeeper to preserve the lead.

The Lions held a 9-8 advantage in shots for the game after out-shooting the Dutchmen 6-3 in the second half. Lebanon Valley would hold a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Tunney suffered the loss after making five saves in the entire 90 minutes of play with four coming in the first half. Dutchmen goalkeeper Emma Strickler earned the shutout win after making four saves in the full 90 minutes of play.  

Albright will now wait to see if their season will be extended in the ECAC Tournament next week. The selections will be made on Monday, November 6.