READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions women's lacrosse team was unable to overcome a slow start as they were knocked off by Widener, 14-10, in the opening round of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament at Shirk Stadium on Monday afternoon.
 
The loss concludes the Lions season as they finish with a 12-6 overall record to set a new single-season record for wins in program history. Meanwhile, the Pride improves to 8-9 overall and will advance to face top-seeded Stevenson on Wednesday afternoon in the semifinals.
 
Albright had a shot in front saved on their opening offensive possession, and the Pride made quick work on their first possession and went up 1-0 at the 28:06-mark. A failed clear attempt then led to the Pride's second goal at the 26:08-mark as they drew a free position shot that led to the 2-0 lead for Widener. The Lions then began to generate a big amount of time in their offensive zone, and it eventually brought the first goal of the game from Albright on a free position shot goal from junior Sophia Mantzavinos. The Pride struck back almost immediately off a draw control win as they scored 18 seconds later to go back up 3-1. Freshman Ashleigh Tortorice made it a one-goal game again at the 20:54-mark after junior Kelly Baumann found her in front of the net. However, the Lions went on a scoring drought of just over 11 minutes which allowed the Pride to capitalize and go up 6-2. Senior Sophie Bass broke the scoring drought at the 9:30-mark on a free position shot goal to make it a 6-3 game , but the Pride would answer with back-to-back goals to take an 8-3 lead at the 4:24-mark. Tortorice then struck again off a pass from Baumann with 1:51 left in the first half to bring the score to 8-4 that carried into halftime.
 
Turnovers continued to plague the Lions in the second half, and a failed clear attempt set the Pride to score another goal to put them up 9-4 at the 26:39-mark. The Lions then had a couple of good chances to score over the next three minutes, but had three shots all turned away by the Pride goalkeeper. Widener then extended its lead to 10-4 at the 22:05-mark on an unassisted goal. Tortorice would cut the deficit down to 10-5 after she connected with Baumann for the third time, but the Pride answered again at the 18:25-mark to go back up 11-5. Freshman Abbie Moist scored her first goal of the game at the 15:14-mark before the Pride came back with back-to-back goals to take a 13-6 lead at the 14-minute mark. The Lions then made their biggest charge of the game as they scored four unanswered goals to cut the Pride lead down to 13-10. Freshman Lauren China opened the run at the 12:52-mark on after making a great move to get space on the goalkeeper, and Baumann followed with her first goal of the game at the 10:22-mark. Bass then scored a free position shot goal at the 8:34-mark to make it 13-9 before China capped the run. However, the Lions still had a tough hill to climb with China's goal coming with just 3:44 left in regulation. Lions sophomore goalkeeper Terae Mason made a tough save on the Pride's next possession to give the Lions a chance to further cut into the lead. However, China had a good chance in front turned away by the Pride goalkeeper. Widener then put any Lions hopes of a miraculous comeback to rest as they tallied their final goal of the game with 2:08 left in regulation.
 
The Lions outshot the Pride 35-27 overall, and 27-22 in shots on goal. However, Pride goalkeeper Maddie Medve stole the show with 17 saves to earn the win. Albright held a 29-27 advantage in ground balls, while the teams split the draw controls with 13 wins each. Tortorice led the Lions with three goals, while Bass finished with three points on two goals and one assist to complete her Albright career with as the current all-time program leading scorer with 242 points. Baumann posted four points behind three assists and one goal, and finished with six ground balls to set the single-season program record for ground balls with 70. Mason tallied eight saves as she suffered the loss, but still finishes with the most single-season wins by any Lions goalkeeper.