READING, Pa. – The Albright men's soccer team was unable to overcome a strong second half by Alvernia as they fell 3-0 at Shirk Stadium on Wednesday evening.
With the loss, the Lions fall to 0-7 in MAC Commonwealth action, shattering any hopes of postseason action, and 3-13-1 overall. Meanwhile, the Golden Wolves climb in the MAC Commonwealth rankings with a 5-2 conference record and 13-4 overall record, as they look forward to the conference championship tournament.
Albright showed resilient defensive efforts in the first 45 minutes of action as they faced ten shots from Alvernia. Sophomore goalkeeper
Hunter Stump was put to the test in the sixth and seventh minutes when the Golden Wolves struck two shots on goal, to which Stump stopped both. Alvernia's best scoring opportunity came in the 23
rd minute when they were awarded a penalty kick following an Albright foul inside the box, but the Golden Wolves sent it wide right. Stump made two more vital saves in the 23
rd and 37
th minutes to keep the Golden Wolves scoreless entering the half.
Alvernia came out of the break fired up, applying early pressure and tallying two shots on goal in the 48
th and 53
rd minutes, but Stump continued to stand tall and stopped both. The Golden Wolves finally broke through in the 54
th minute, scoring a header goal off a corner kick to take a 1-0 lead. Alvernia then sent a long shot in from outside the box and tucked it into the top right corner in the 66
th minute to take a two-goal lead over Albright. The Golden Wolves later served a third unanswered goal in the 79
th minute to round out their scoring. The Lions were finally able to get a few shots off from seniors
Christian Aurand,
Nicholas Garofalo, and
Billy Hanratty in the closing minutes, but they were unable to recover from their deficit as the Golden Wolves claimed the 3-0 MAC Commonwealth victory.
Alvernia held a dominant 22-3 shot advantage over Albright and connect 12 on net. Stump receives the loss for the Lions despite making a career-high nine saves in 79:55 minutes of action. Senior goalkeeper Nate Nimo did not need a single save in the full amount of action to earn the win the Golden Wolves.
The Lions will take the pitch one last time this season on Saturday at Shirk Stadium as they host Eastern at 7:30 p.m. to celebrate senior night.
