READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions women's soccer team will travel to Grantham, Pa. to face #1 Messiah College in a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Commonwealth Tournament semifinal game on Thursday, Nov.7 at 7 p.m.
 
Albright is the No. 4 seed in the tournament, while Messiah is the No. 1 seed. This will be the first time that Albright has played Messiah in playoffs since 2011.
 
Tickets: The MAC mandates the prices for adults at $5, senior citizens at $4, 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. Links can be found on the Albright women's soccer schedule page. There will also be live updates provided throughout the game on the official twitter for Albright athletics (@AlbrightLions).
 
MAC Commonwealth Tournament: Albright is the No. 4 seed in the tournament and battles No. 1 seed Messiah in a semifinal game.  In the other semifinal matchup on Thursday, Nov. 7 in Glenside, Pa., No. 2 Arcadia will host No. 3 Stevenson. Thursday's winners will advance to the MAC Commonwealth championship game on Saturday at the home of the highest remaining seed.
 
Records: Albright finished the regular season with an 11-7 mark overall and a 5-3 record in conference play. The Lions won four of their last five games to close out the season, highlighted by a 2-1 win on the road against then No. 14 Arcadia on October 19^th. Messiah went 16-1-1 overall and 7-0-1 in conference play, tying Arcadia 0-0 after two overtime periods.
 
Scouting Albright: Albright ranks fifth in the conference in goals scored with 34 and fewest goals allowed with 27.  Lions' junior forward Lauren Haley leads the team in offensive scoring and ranks third in the conference with nine goals. Haley scored two goals in the Lions play-in game against Hood on Tuesday, and earned All-MAC Commonwealth Second Team Honors. Sophomore Autumn Bieber leads the team in assists with five and ranks seventh in the conference with 19 points, and earned All-MAC Commonwealth First Team honors for the second-straight season. Classmate Diza Hasanaj netted eight goals for 16 points this season for the Lions, ranking ninth in the conference while senior Jillian Lapidus has scored three goals in her last six games. In goal, sophomore Olivia Donkus ranks fourth in the Commonwealth with a 1.18 goals against average (GAA), and with a .818 save percentage. Donkus has earned a pair of MAC Commonwealth defensive player of the week honors this season as well. Classmate Vanessa Baker started for the Lions against Alvernia last Friday and earned a 3-1 win.
 
Lions in the Playoffs: This marks the sixth straight season and eighth time in the last nine years that Albright has qualified for the MAC Commonwealth tournament. The Lions earned their first MAC Commonwealth Tournament win on Tuesday evening against Hood, 3-0.  
 
Scouting Messiah: Messiah sits at the top of the conference is tied for 14^th in all of NCAA Division III with 65 goals on the season, while yielding the fewest goals in the conference at six.  Senior forward Brooke Firestone leads the conference in goals (18) and points (40) and has been named the MAC Commonwealth's Offensive Player of the Year.  Classmate Ellie Lengacher ranks second in points in the conference (30), first in assists (12), and fourth in goals (9).  Junior Maddie Kohl has tallied six goals and eight assists for the Falcons, totaling 20 points on the season.  In the net for Messiah is junior Lydia Ewing who holds the lowest GAA in the MAC Commonwealth with .303 and the highest save percentage with .914.
 
Messiah in the Playoffs: The Falcons have earned 16 MAC Commonwealth Championships and are the defending conference champions. Messiah has appeared in the NCAA tournament 19 times and holds five national titles with the most recent one coming in 2012.
 
Series: Since 2008, Messiah has won 13 games against Albright and tied one in 2017, 0-0.  Just this season, Albright scored the first ever regular season goal against Messiah on Oct. 26.
 
Last Meeting: Messiah picked up a 2-1 win in the game at Shirk Stadium on Oct. 26 despite a strong showing from the Lions.  Two first-half goals were scored by the Falcons, one crossed by Kohl to first-year Shelby Burger and the other being a penalty kick converted by junior Claire Brier.  Lapidus scored in the second half following commotion in front of the net off a Lions' free kick outside the box.  The Falcons held a 16-8 advantage in shots and a slim 8-7 edge in shots on goal.  Donkus and Ewing each earned six saves in the net for their teams.
 
Head Coaches: Albright head coach Pat Stanco has posted a 142-122-26 mark in 15 seasons as the head coach of the Lions. He is the winningest coach in program history and has guided the Lions to four consecutive double-digit win seasons.
 
Messiah head coach Scott Frey is in his 20^th season at the helm of the Falcons and has posted a 415-24-27 record during his time at Messiah.  He has guided the team to five NCAA Division III National Championships, appearing in the national tournament 18 times and advancing to 12 Final Fours. Frey was recently named MAC Commonwealth Coach of the Year for the sixth time in his career.
 
Up Next: The winner will advance to the MAC Commonwealth championship game on Saturday at the home of the highest remaining seed.