READING, Pa. – The Albright men's lacrosse team will travel to face #4 York for the first round of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament tomorrow, May 1st, at 7:00pm.
Tickets: At this time, York College will not be permitting spectators at any events as stated in their update COVID-19 policy.
Live Coverage: The York College Athletic Communications office will provide live video and live stats for the game.
MAC Commonwealth Tournament: Albright is the No. 7 seed and will be facing the No. 2 seed York for the quarterfinal round of the tournament. The winner will move forward to the semifinal round on Wednesday, May 5th where they will face either the No. 6 seed Lebanon Valley or the No. 3 seed Eastern. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday, May 8th.
Records: Albright enters the tournament with a 2-8 overall record and a 1-5 record in MAC Commonwealth play. The Lions enter the tournament after suffering a 17-3 loss to the Spartans last Saturday, April 24th. Meanwhile, York enters the tournament with an 11-1 overall record and a 5-1 conference record. The Spartans saw their first loss of the season to Stevenson on Friday, April 23rd and rallied the following day to claim a dominant 17-3 win over Albright and close out regular season play.
Scouting the Lions: Albright ranks sixth in the conference in goals per game with 8.5 and seventh in points per game with 12.5. Junior Cole Genneken leads the Lions in scoring with 24 goals and 14 assists for 38 points on the season. Genneken ranks eighth in the conference in goals per game with 2.4, eighth in assists per game with 1.4, sixth in points per game with 3.8, and first in shots per game with 9.5. Classmate Alex McKendry follows with 14 goals and 4 assists for 18 points on the season. Senior defender Connor Graser leads the team in ground balls with 68 on the season and ranks third in the conference with 6.8 ground balls per game. Graser also leads the team and the conference in caused turnovers with 3.3 per game and 33 on the season. Sophomore goalkeeper Liam Ferry ranks tenth in the conference in goals against average with 14.6.
Lions in the Playoffs: The Lions are making their first appearance in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament since the 2017 season when they lost in the conference championship game to the No.1 seed Stevenson 12-6. Albright advanced to the semifinals every year from 2012-2017 and appeared in the championship game in the 2012, 2014, and 2017 seasons.
Scouting the Spartans: York ranks first in the conference in goals per game with 18.2, assists per game with 10.33, points per game with 28.5, and shots per game with 56.7. Senior Brendan O'Sullivan leads the Spartans offence with 40 goals and four assists for 44 points on the season and ranks second in the conference in goals per game with 3.3. Classmate Dylan Wolf follows with 40 points on the season with 27 goals and 13 assists. First-year Michael Russo leads the team in assists with 17 and ranks third in the conference in assists per game with 1.89. Sophomore Vinny Facciponti leads the team and ranks second in the conference with 92 ground balls on the season and 7.7 per game. Junior goalkeeper Jack Michael leads the conference in goals against average with 5.19 and saves percentage with .634.
Spartans in the Playoff: This will be York's first MAC Commonwealth Tournament appearance since switching from the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference in 2020. Prior to joining the MAC Commonwealth, the Spartans appeared in five of the last six CAC Tournament championship games. York has also appeared in the past four NCAA Tournaments, excluding the shortened 2020 season due to COVID-19. Their last post season game in 2019 featured an overtime loss in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals to Cabrini.
Series: This is only the second time the two programs will meet. York leads the series 1-0 after defeating Albright in MAC Commonwealth regular season play last Saturday, April 24th, 17-3.
Last Meeting: The Spartans earned a dominant 17-3 win over the Lions last Saturday to close out MAC Commonwealth regular season play. York came out of the gates firing away, opening the game with ten unanswered goals and keeping Albright scoreless in the first half. Genneken finally got the Lions on the board with a goal at the 7:16-mark in the third quarter. McKendry and junior Eric Broadway followed with goals of their own, but the Spartans continued to dominate in the second half, outscoring the Lions 7-3 to claim the 17-3 win.
Head Coaches: James Malone is in his fifth season as head coach for Albright and has posted a 20-41 overall record. In his first season with the Lions in 2017 he led the team to the MAC Commonwealth championship game that resulted in a 12-6 loss to the No. 1 seed Stevenson.
Brandon Childs is in his tenth season as head coach of York and holds a 136-42 overall record. The Spartans have appeared in five NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the quarterfinals in three of those NCAA appearances, under Childs' head coaching tenure.
Up Next: The winner will advance to the semifinal round of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament on Wednesday, May 5th where they will face either the No. 6 seed Lebanon Valley or the No. 3 seed Eastern.
