Reading, Pa. (Oct. 31, 2021) - Alvernia University field hockey enters this week's MAC Commonwealth Field Hockey Championship as the #4 seed in the field of five teams.
The Golden Wolves will play in the opening game of the Championship on Monday night, hosting #5 Lebanon Valley College at 7 PM at Alvernia's Turf Field. Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, and $2 for students. All Alvernia students are free with a valid I.D. Tickets will be for sale at the entrance to the stadium between the Physical Education Center and Campus Commons, as well as on turf level at the I Lot entrance.
This will be Alvernia's seventh appearance in the tournament since Alvernia joined the MAC Commonwealth in 2009. Alvernia's last appearance was in 2018 as the #2 seed. The Golden Wolves were eliminated in the semifinal round following a 3-1 loss to #3 Arcadia.
Alvernia finished its regular season 8-10 overall and 5-3 in MAC Commonwealth Play. Alvernia's offense is led by Madison Potthoff, who has scored seven goals and added four assists. Felicia Getz stands at four goals and four assists on the season, and Brooke Spezialetti has four goals, three assists, and three defensive saves. Both Gianna DeGregory and Maria Panettieri have two defensive saves, and DeGregory also has four goals. In net for Alvernia, Lexi Boettcher and Hannah Wolfe have split time fairly evenly throughout the season. Boettcher has played 10 games for 507 total minutes with a .718 save percentage and 2.60 goals against average. Wolfe has played in 12 games for 586 total minutes with a .724 save percentage and 1.64 goals against average.
When Alvernia hosts #5 Lebanon Valley tomorrow night, it will be the second time the two teams have met in the past six days. Alvernia wrapped up its MAC Commonwealth schedule on Wednesday, October 27th. Alvernia defeated the Dutchmen 2-1 in the first matchup to help secure the #4 seed. Alvernia had goals from Getz and Spezialetti. Lebanon Valley's only goal of the game came off a penalty stroke in the fourth quarter. Wolfe picked up the win for Alvernia in net the first time around.
Scouting the rest of the field:
#5 Lebanon Valley
The Dutchmen enter the tournament after going 9-9 overall and 5-3 in MAC Commonwealth play. The Dutchmen average 1.56 goals per game while allowing 2.11. Rachel Wright and Abbie Keath have both scored five goals to lead Lebanon Valley's offense. Emily Kline has four defensive saves for Lebanon Valley with two goals and three assists. Corinne Kearny is the primary goalie for Lebanon Valley, playing over 1,000 minutes in net this season. She has a .714 save percentage and a 2.18 goals against average.
#3 Widener University @ #2 York College
Widener and York will face each other in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Widener enters the tournament at 13-4 overall and 5-3 in MAC Commonwealth play. Widener defeated Alvernia 1-0 back on October 16th at Widener. Widener leads the MAC Commonwealth with an average of 3.941 goals scored a game. The Pride also allow a MAC Commonwealth leading .94 goals a game. Widener's Madi Radnoff leads the MAC Commonwealth in goals with 15 and points with 36. When Widener defeated Alvernia earlier this season, Radnoff contributed an assist on the game-winning goal scored by the Pride. Erin Callahan is also a leading scorer for the Pride with 11 goals and five assists. Kylie Haberstroh, a first-year, has made the start in every Widener game so far this season and is the only goalie listed on the Pride's roster. She leads the MAC Commonwealth in goals against average (0.93), save percentage (.761), and shutouts (8).
York College finished the regular season at 14-4 overall and 7-1 in its first season in the MAC Commonwealth. York's only loss in conference play came against top-seeded Messiah University. York defeated Alvernia 4-0 in the regular season matchup between the two teams. York averages three goals a game while giving up an average of 1.11 goals per game. Hannah Huffman leads the Spartans offense with 14 goals and five assists. She scored one of the four goals against Alvernia in the 4-0 regular season win over Alvernia. Sam Collis scored two goals and added an assist in the 4-0 win over Alvernia. Collis has eight goals and three assists on the season. In net for York, Kaitlyn Wallace has gotten the start in all 18 games for the Spartans. She finished the regular season with a 1.17 goals against average and a .712 save percentage.
#1 Messiah University (will face winner of #5 Lebanon Valley at #4 Alvernia)
Messiah University finished the regular season 14-2 overall and 8-0 in MAC Commonwealth play. The Falcons have been a regular in NFHCA National Rankings, and have most recently been ranked 9th in the nation last week. Messiah has won the MAC Commonwealth title every year since 2007, and Alvernia has never beaten Messiah in either a regular or postseason matchup. Alvernia nearly ended that streak a few weeks ago on Alvernia's Homecoming. The Golden Wolves led Messiah 1-0 for most of the game, but two late goals by Messiah ended Alvernia's upset bid. Messiah also competes on a fast AstroTurf field that few teams experience until playing at Messiah. Jennie Young leads Messiah's offense with nine goals and eight assists. She assisted on one of the two goals Messiah scored in the win over Alvernia. Makayla Malcolm is Messiah's leading goal scorer with 11 goals on the season. She scored both goals in the 2-1 win over Alvernia. Messiah has had five goalies make an appearance so far this season. Catie Brubaker is the primary goalie with 14 starts and nearly 800 minutes played. She has allowed just 14 goals all season for a 1.07 goals against average and finished the regular season .720 save percentage - but has faced just 36 shots all season.
For complete MAC Commonwealth Championship information, visit the 2021 Championship Central
