READING, Pa. – The Albright field hockey team was edged 1-0 by Widener on Wednesday night in MAC Commonwealth play at Shirk Stadium.
 
With the loss, the Lions fall to 5-8 overall and 3-4 in MAC Commonwealth play. Prior to tonight's contest, the Lions honored its lone senior, Kelly Ventura-Blanco. Meanwhile, the Pride improve to 12-3 overall and 4-2 in conference action.
 
Albright came out strong in the first quarter as sophomore Laurel Gingrich nearly opened the scoring in the opening minute with a shot in front that was saved. The Lions received three-straight penalty corners in the third minute, and produced one shot that was turned away. First-year Olivia Lorah had a decent look on the Pride's cage at the eight-minute mark of the first quarter, but had her shot attempt stopped following a penalty corner opportunity. The Lions held Widener to two shots in the first quarter, but the Pride nearly got on the board just 34 seconds into the second quarter with a shot that was turned away by junior Abigail Shoemaker on a defensive save. Lions sophomore goalkeeper Veronica Heckman came up big on a pair of Pride shot attempts in the 19th minute to keep the game scoreless into halftime.
 
The Pride ripped off three shots in the first four minutes of the third quarter that were all turned away by Heckman. Widener controlled the ball for the majority of the third quarter, but were unable to convert any of their six shots on net. First-year Chelsea Johnson almost broke the scoreless tie with a shot in the 49th minute, but ended up drawing a penalty corner. Classmate Amanda Smith had a shot saved following the penalty corner to keep the game deadlocked. Widener was awarded a penalty corner in the 55th minute, and converted what would be the game-winning goal off a deflection in the center of the box following the initial blast from the top of the box.
 
Widener held a 16-11 shot advantage for the contest and a slight 10-9 edge in shots on goal. The Lions held a sizable 12-5 advantage in penalty corners. Heckman suffered the tough-luck loss after making eight saves in the full 60 minutes. Meanwhile, Pride goalkeeper Kylie Haberstroh earned the win after making nine saves in the full time.
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday, October 23rd as they will head across town to face Alvernia in their final MAC Commonwealth game of the regular season at 6 p.m.