Reading, Pa. (Feb. 21, 2023) - For the first time in Alvernia Athletics history, the Golden Wolves will have four teams in playoff action on the same day as Alvernia's run for championships in men's and women's ice hockey, and men's and women's basketball get underway Wednesday afternoon.

Both Men's and Women's Ice Hockey will get underway in quarterfinal action of the UCHC Championship, while Men's and Women's Basketball get things started in the semifinals of the MAC Commonwealth Championship. 

Women's Ice Hockey is the #4 seed in the UCHC Women's Ice Hockey Championship and will host #5 Chatham University. Men's Ice Hockey is the #7 seed and will head to #2 Nazareth College. Women's Basketball is the #3 seed and will head across town to #2 Albright College. Men's Basketball won the MAC Commonwealth regular season and are the top seed in the MAC Commonwealth Championship. They will host #4 Eastern University. 

Check out a preview of each game below:

Women's Ice Hockey: #4 Alvernia University vs. #5 Chatham University
Game Information: 2:30 PM at Body Zone
Live Coverage: auwolves.com/live
Season Series Record vs. Chatham: 1-1
All-Time Record vs. Chatham: 1-7
Alvernia 2022-23 Season and UCHC Record: 12-10-3, 11-8-1
Chatham 2022-23 Season and UCHC Record: 11-13-1, 10-9-1

The Golden Wolves are coming off a weekend that saw them win the MAC Championship for the first time in their four season history. With its 5-0 win over King's College on Saturday to close out the regular season, Alvernia picked up its 12th win on the season - the most wins in one season since Alvernia began Women's Ice Hockey in the 2019-20 season.

Alvernia is anchored by a senior class that started the program four years ago, as well as some young talent bringing offensive power to the group. Sophomore Julia Franklin leads Alvernia with 25 points off of 11 goals and 14 assists. Senior Olivia Gilida is Alvernia's goal leader with 12 on the season, and she has also added 12 assists and a team-high 27 blocks. Junior Sydney Bradley leads the team in assists, and joins Franklin and Gilida as the three Golden Wolves to break the 20-point threshold on the season. In net, Alvernia senior goalie Julia Beaven has six shutouts on the season and 12 wins in net. She has a .945 save percentage with 614 saves on the season, and a 1.66 goals against average.

The Cougars enter the quarterfinals splitting their final two series of the season against Stevenson and Neumann, respectively. Three of their final five games went to overtime - including an overtime win against Alvernia on January 28. Senior Brooke Almond leads the Cougars with 10 goals and 19 assists. Allison Corser-James and Ally Nolan each lead the Cougars with 17 goals a piece. Sophomore Samantha Barrett isn't afraid to get in front of a shot, blocking a second in the UCHC 43 shots on the season. Lily Rogers is likely to get the start in net for the Cougars. She has started 15 of Chatham's 25 games and has a .899 save percentage with 455 saves. She allows 3.39 goals a game and has seven wins and seven losses in net. 

In the regular season series, Alvernia took game one by a 3-2 decision. Sydney Bradley scored two of Alvernia's three goals during the game, and Amber Steinhilpert added the third. Beaven stopped 38 shots in net for Alvernia, including 15 saves during a late third period push by Chatham. In game two, Alvernia led 3-1 going into the third period. But the Cougars scored twice in the third period to even it up at 3-3, and netted the game off the opening faceoff of the overtime period to come away with the 4-3 win. 

Alvernia faced Chatham one before in the UCHC playoff. The Golden Wolves went out to Pittsburgh in the 2021 conference-play only COVID season as the #7 seed to take on the #3 Cougars. Alvernia led 3-2 with four minutes to play, but the Cougars evened it up at 3-3 late in the third period to send the game to overtime. Chatham went on to score the game-winner in the 10th minute of the overtime period.

Men's Ice Hockey: #7 Alvernia University at #2 Nazareth College
Game Information: 7:00 PM at Bill Gray's Iceplex
Live Coverage: auwolves.com/live
Season Series Record vs. Nazareth: 1-1
All-Time Record vs. Nazareth: 1-1
Alvernia 2022-23 Season and UCHC Record: 8-15-2, 6-13-1
Nazareth 2022-23 Season and UCHC Record: 16-7-2, 14-5-1

Alvernia, competing in its inaugural season, split its final series of the regular season with Lebanon Valley College to secure a spot in the UCHC playoff. The Golden Wolves are 8-15-2 overall and 6-13-1 in UCHC play. The Golden Wolves picked up four of their six UCHC wins prior to break, but were able to grab the final two needed in the home stretch with wins over Lebanon Valley and King's to secure their spot in the postseason.

The Golden Wolves have spread the scoring wealth in their first year, with eight players in double-digits for points scored. Logan vande Meerakker leads the way for Alvernia with 22 points off of 15 assists and seven goals. Jason Finan is Alvernia's leading goal scorer going into Wednesday with 11 on the season. Finan is coming off a hat trick on Friday against Lebanon Valley.  Colin Cain and Brandon Daigle have split time fairly evenly in net for the Golden Wolves, with 12 and 13 games played, respectively. Daigle is 4-8 with a .903 save percentage on 373 saves, and 3.36 goals against average. Cain is 3-5-2 on the season with a .894 save percentage on 311 saves with a 3.83 goals against average.

Nazareth enters Wednesday on a five-game winning streak. Since dropping a 2-1 decision at Wilkes on February 3rd, the Golden Flyers won their final five of the season to secure the second seed in the UCHC Championship. Henry McKinney leads the Golden Flyers with 31 points off of 22 assists and nine goals. Logan Tobias is the leading goal scorer for the Golden Flyers with 17 on the season. Raphael Provencher is the primary goalie for Nazareth, making 16 starts in net for the Golden Flyers. He is 10-5-1 with three shutouts this season, including one shutout to Alvernia. He has a .917 save percentage on 377 saves with a 2.12 goals against average.

The Golden Wolves and Golden Flyers split the series in their matchup back in November. Alvernia fell 1-0 in the first game of the series, with Nazareth's only goal coming off of a defensive turnover behind the net, allowing the Golden Flyers to score with Daigle out of position in net. Game two saw the Golden Flyers score on a power-play goal in the second period to take a 1-0 lead. Alvernia evened it up nine minutes later on a goal by Jordan Gagnon, and Kyle Patton scored the game winner less than three minutes later. The Golden Wolves then held Nazareth to just five shots in the final period to take the 2-1 win.

Women's Basketball: #3 Alvernia University at #2 Albright College
Game Information: 7:00 PM at Albright College's Bollman Center
Tickets: $6 for adults, $4 for students (with ID), and $2 for children
Live Coverage: auwolves.com/live
Season Series Record vs. Albright: 1-1
All-Time Record vs. Albright: 20-23
Alvernia 2022-23 Season and MAC Commonwealth Record: 16-9, 11-5
Albright 2022-23 Season and MAC Commonwealth Record: 16-7-2, 14-5-1

Alvernia won its final two games of the regular season to lock up the #3 seed in the MAC Commonwealth tournament. This is Alvernia's first appearance in a traditional style MAC postseason since Alvernia made it as the #4 seed in the 2010-11 season. Alvernia did appear in the last season's MAC Commonwealth tournament as the #8 seed with the COVID expansion format of all conference teams making the postseason. Alvernia enters Wednesday with 16 wins on the season, its most in a season since going 14-14 in 2010-11. Alvernia's 11 wins in conference play are its most ever in a season since joining the MAC Commonwealth.

Alvernia's starting five have started every MAC Commonwealth contest together this season. Alvernia as a team is the highest producing offense in the MAC Commonwealth with an average of 63.2 points scored per game, and holds its opponents to the second lowest scoring total at 55 points allowed per game. Jordan Karmonick and Kayla Williams lead Alvernia's offensive efforts. Karmonick averages 11.4 points per game and leads the MAC Commonwealth in 3-point shooting percentage (.396) and 3-pointers made per game (2.5). Williams leads Alvernia with 11.6 points per game, and has 182 rebounds on the year with 38 blocks. Cathryn Kramer is also a force for Alvernia's defense with 160 rebounds on the year and a MAC Commonwealth leading 56 blocks.

The Lions used a five-game winning streak to lock up the #2 seed in the MAC Commonwealth. The Lions have not lost since January 28th when they dropped a 55-41 decision to Messiah. Albright has three players averaging double-digit scoring on the year, with Gabby Boggs leading the way at 14.5 points per game. Boggs averages a double-double each game, with an average of 11 boards per game. She also has 48 blocks and 45 steals on the year. Mackenzie Dover is Albright's second-leading scoring, with 12.9 points per game.

The Golden Wolves and Lions split their regular season series. After trailing the Lions in the first quarter of their first matchup back in December, Alvernia handled the Lions in the final three quarters - including holding Albright to five points in the fourth quarter - en route to a 74-47 win over the Lions. In the second matchup, Alvernia led the Lions going into the second half. But, Albright held Alvernia to eight points in the third quarter and came back to take a one point win over Alvernia, 57-56. This will be the first time either men's or women's basketball faces Albright in a playoff game.

Men's Basketball: #1 Alvernia University vs #4 Eastern University
Game Information: 8:00 PM at Alvernia's Jack McCloskey Court
Tickets: $6 for adults, $4 for students (with ID), and $2 for children. All Alvernia students are free with their ID.
Live Coverage: auwolves.com/live
Season Series Record vs. Eastern: 1-1
All-Time Record vs. Eastern: 34-12
Alvernia 2022-23 Season and MAC Commonwealth Record: 18-7, 12-4
Eastern 2022-23 Season and MAC Commonwealth Record: 18-8, 10-6

Alvernia won three of its final four games of the regular season, but the Golden Wolves dropped their season final to Hood College on Saturday in an 80-68 decision. Alvernia entered its contest with Hood on a three game-winning streak, with its previous loss prior to Hood coming to Eastern on February 1st as Alvernia fell to the Eagles, 78-74. Alverina has won the MAC Commonwealth regular season title three times since entering the MAC Commonwealth. Alvernia has gone on to win the MAC Commonwealth Championship two of those three teams. Alvernia has won the MAC Commonwealth four times in total, with its most recent championship coming in 2014-15 with a 58-51 win over Stevenson.

Alvernia is averaging 78.8 points per game as a team, and allows 72 points per game from its opponents. Malik Green is anchoring Alvernia with a career-season for his final year. Green leads the MAC Commonwealth in points per game with an average of 18.8 per game. Green put up 30 against the Eagles in their second meeting of the season, but Alvernia was unable to come away with the win. Green also averages 7.6 rebounds per game, has 41 steals and 45 assists on the season. Jakob Kelly, Nigel Cooke, and Robert Mullan are all also averaging double-digit scoring for the Golden Wolves. Kelly is averaging 13.6 points per game, while Mullan boasts a .404 shooting percentage. Jalil Schenck is a consistent off the bench for the Golden Wolves, averaging 8.7 points per game and a team-high 49 made 3-pointers.

Eastern University defeated York College on Monday night in the 5v4 game to advance to Wednesday to take on the Golden Wolves. The Eagles average 76.8 points per game and allow a second-best in the MAC Commonwealth 69.3 points per game. The Eagles enter Wednesday with the best shooting percentage in the MAC Commonwealth at .446, leading Alvernia's shooting percentage of .444 by the narrowest of margins. Eastern is led by Jaron Fairweather, who averages 13 points per game. He shoots .417 from the floor and .321 from beyond the arc. Zubair Lee leads the Eagles on rebounds, with an average of 7.8 boards per game. He also averages 10.7 points per game. 

Alvernia defeated the Eagles 86-75 in the first meeting of the two teams back in early January. Alvernia led the Eagles by 12 at the half, and kept the pace up to hang on for the 11 point win. In the second meeting of the two teams 20 days ago, Green dropped 30 points for the Golden Wolves, but Alvernia was unable to overcome a six-point halftime deficit as the Eagles escaped with the narrow 78-74 win. 

Stick with auwolves.com and Alvernia Athletes on social media for the most up-to-date coverage tomorrow, as well as post-game recaps following tomorrow's action.