READING, Pa. – The Albright field hockey team will play its first home of the 2017 season against the Lynchburg Hornets on Sunday, September 10 at 1 p.m. The Lions lost to Eastern last Saturday 3-1 in their season opener, while the Hornets defeated Wittenberg 7-1 last Sunday. Albright will be the second of two games in the Reading Area this weekend for the Hornets as they will play at Alvernia tomorrow.
FACING THE HORNETS
The two teams have not faced each other in recent memory and this is the first time Albright has faced a team from the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) since facing Shenadoah back in the 2010 season. The Lions have won two straight home openers and three of their last four overall. Albright will play nine games at Shirk Stadium in 2017 with five of the games coming in the month of October. The Lions held a 6-2 record at home last season.
BRAND NEW SEASON
Albright finished the season with an 11-7 overall record and tied for fifth in the MAC Commonwealth standings with a 3-4 conference record. The Lions also earned a berth in the ECAC Tournament against Muhlenberg. Overall, the Lions return 16 players from last year's squad which includes first-team All-MAC Commonwealth defender
Cassidy Barrow. Albright also returns a pair of seniors in
Amanda Long and
Tracy Snyder, who were 1-2 in goals scored last season, and reigning MAC Commonwealth rookie of the year,
Kaley Donmoyer. The Lions were picked to finish fourth in the MAC Commonwealth preseason poll.
LAST GAME
Albright suffered a 3-1 loss in their season opener last Saturday on the road against Eastern. The Lions dominated play in the first half by outshooting the Eagles 7-2, and got on the board first thanks to a goal from
Long in the 34th minute just before the half. However, the Eagles would take control of the game in the second half with two goals within two minutes of each other in the first six minutes of the new period. Eastern would then add a goal and hold off a late Lions surge to win the game. Albright held a 16-11 shot advantage in the game overall.
