Reading, Pa. (Feb. 20, 2024) - For the second straight year, and just the second 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 evening.

Both men's and women's ice hockey will get underway in the quarterfinal round of the UCHC Championship, and men's and women's basketball will get things started in the semifinals of the MAC Commonwealth Championship. 

Women's Ice Hockey is the #6 seed in the UCHC Women's Ice Hockey Championship and will head to #3 Manhattanville College. On the men's side, Alvernia Men's Ice Hockey is the #4 seed and will host #5 Manhattanville. Women's Basketball is the #4 seed and will head to #1 Messiah University. Men's Basketball is also the #4 seed and will head to #1 Widener University.

A full preview of each of Alvernia's four games on Wednesday is below:

Women's Ice Hockey: #6 Alvernia University at #3 Manhattanville College
Game Information: 6:00 PM at the Rye Playland Ice Casino
Live Coverage: auwolves.com/live
Season Record vs Manhattanville: 0-2
All-Time Record vs Manhattanville: 2-6-1
Alvernia 2023-24 Season and UCHC Record: 11-10-4, 9-8-3
Manhattanville 2023-24 Season and UCHC Record: 12-11-2, 12-6-2

Alvernia closed out its 2023-24 season as the repeat MAC Women's Ice Hockey champions and went 0-1-1 against Wilkes in the final UCHC series of the weekend. The Golden Wolves have exceeded 10 wins or more the last three seasons.

Alvernia is anchored by a mix of well-experience and new talent. Alvernia is led offensively by junior Julia Franklin, who has 12 goals and nine assists on the year for a team-high 21 points. First year Khenzie Connick has ten goals and also has nine assists along with Franklin. Sydney Bradley leads the Golden Wolves with ten assists. On the defensive side, Carolyn Burton leads the Golden Wolves and is second in the UCHC with 48 blocked shots over 20 games played. The Golden Wolves have fifth year goalie Julia Beaven in net. Beaven has 527 saves on the year and an 8-7-4 record with four shutouts. Beaven has a 1.64 goals against average and a .944 save percentage. 

The Valiants enter the season with a 12-11-2 record overall and 12-6-2 record in UCHC play. Manhattanville got swept in the regular season finale with two losses to Nazareth, but the Valiants were riding a nine-game win streak prior to those two losses. Manhattanville is led by 2022-23 NCAA statistical champion Gabrielle Cox, who is leading the UCHC with 22 goals on the season. Cox also has nine assists on the year. Fifth-year goalie Franny Gerardi is likely to get the start in net for Manhattanville. She is 9-10-1 on the year with a 2.58 goals against average and .923 save percentage.

In the regular-season series, Manhattanville swept the Golden Wolves with 3-0 and 3-1 wins - both at Manhattanville. Gillian Evans was the lone goal-scorer for Alvernia during the series and had assists from Kathryn Palmer and Alex Robertson. Beaven made 39 saves across both games of the series.

Alvernia's last win against Manhattanville came on January 5, 2023 at home with a 4-2 victory over the Valiants. Alvernia tied Manhattanville the following day, but the Valiants won the shootout. 

Men's Ice Hockey: #4 Alvernia University vs #5 Manhattanville College
Game Information: 7:00 PM at Body Zone
Live Coverage: auwolves.com/live
Season Record vs Manhattanville: 0-2
All-Time Record vs Manhattanville: 1-3
Alvernia 2023-24 Season and UCHC Record: 12-11-2, 10-9-1
Manhattanville 2023-24 Season and UCHC Record: 9-16-0, 9-11-0

Alvernia closed out its regular season on Saturday with a 3-2 win over Lebanon Valley to secure home ice for the UCHC quarterfinals. Alvernia has made the UCHC playoff in each of its first two season.  It will be Alvernia's first time hosting a Men's UCHC playoff game in the program's short two-year history.  

Alvernia has 12 wins on the season, surpassing its first year total of eight wins a few weeks ago. Alvernia's win over Lebanon Valley on Saturday put an end to a five-game skid dating back to January 27th's 3-2 loss to King's. 

Both Logan vande Meerakker and Issac Chapman have 13 goals to lead Alvernia this season. Vande Meerakker also has a team-high 17 assists and his 30 points leads the UCHC. Chapman has 13 assists, and Hunter Alden has also hit the 20 point threshold with seven goals and 13 assists. Christian Dahl has been Alvernia's leading shot-blocker with 34 on the year. Jackson Fellner is 7-8-1 in goal for Alvernia with 493 saves, a .918 save percentage, and a 2.77 goals against average. 

Manhattanville has lost four of its last five games, including a 5-4 loss in overtime to King's on Saturday to lose out on a home game. Artem Mateichenko leads the Valiants with 27 points off of five goals and 22 assists. AJ Bella is Manhattanville's leading goal-scorer with 13 goals. He also has nine assists. Tristan Frese is the leading shot-blocker for Manhattanville. Sebastian Woods is the primary goalie for Manhattanville and is 6-11 on the season. He has a .903 save percentage and a 3.24 goals against average with 505 total saves on the year.

The Golden Wolves and Valiants met back in early December, and Manhattanville spoiled a home series for the Golden Wolves with two wins. Manhattanville won each contest by one goal with a 2-1 win in game one and a 4-3 win in game two. Fellner was in net for Alvernia in both games and made a total of 64 saves. Two of the six goals he allowed were power play goals. Chapman scored two of Alvernia's goals and Matthew Davies and Jordan Gagnon accounted for the other two goals scored by Alvernia during the series.

Women's Basketball: #4 Alvernia University at #1 Messiah University
Game Information: 7:00 PM at Messiah's Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena
Live Coverage: auwolves.com/live
Season Record vs Messiah: 0-2
All-Time Record vs Messiah: 2-33
Alvernia 2023-24 Season and MAC Record: 15-10, 7-7
Messiah 2023-24 Season and MAC Record: 21-4, 13-1

Alvernia is coming off a 69-54 win over Stevenson on Saturday to secure the final spot in the MAC Commonwealth postseason. This will be Alvernia's second straight MAC Commonwealth postseason appearance after competing in last season's tournament as the #3 seed. Alvernai also made an appearance in the MAC Commonwealth tournament in 2022 in a COVID expansion format as the #8 seed. 

Alvernia is the second highest producing offense in the MAC Commonwealth with an average of 66.8 points per game. The Golden Wolves are just two points back of Widener's 68.4 points per game. Alvernia is led in scoring by Kayla Williams, who averages 14.3 points per game and is shooting nearly 43% on the season. She also averages 7.5 rebounds per game and set a new single-season block record for Alvernia with 68 and counting on the year. Jordan Jarmonick is Alvernia's second-leading scorer with 10.8 points per game. She averages 7.2 rebounds per and has 100 assists on the year. Tamia Wessels and Taliyah Malone also average over 10 points per game for the Golden Wolves. 

After falling to Widener on February 7, Messiah won its final three games of the regular season to once again lock-up the top seed in the MAC Commonwealth playoff. Messiah was threatened by Eastern in its season finale, but edged out a 48-43 win to close out the regular season. The Falcons have won 15 MAC Commonwealth titles, including the last seven straight. The Falcons are the lowest scoring offense in the MAC Commonwealth postseason, with an average of 61.2 points scored per game. However, Messiah has the top-ranked defense in the the MAC Commonwealth and only allows an average of 52 points per game. Messiah is led by Morgan Adams, who averages 17.3 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game. Reese Harden is right behind Adams and averages 15.6 points per game.

Wednesday's game will be a rematch of the 2023 MAC Commonwealth championship. Messiah used a strong second and third quarter to take the MAC Commonwealth title, 60-37.  

Men's Basketball: #4 Alvernia University at #1 Widener University
Game Information: 8:00 PM at Widener's Schwartz Center
Live Coverage: auwolves.com/live
Season Record vs Widener: 0-2
All-Time Record vs Widener: 17-12
Alvernia 2023-24 Season and MAC Record:16-9, 8-6
Widener 2023-24 Season and MAC Record: 22-3, 12-2

Alvernia secured its third straight postseason appearance with an overtime win over Stevenson on Saturday to secure the #4 seed. Alvernia's win over Stevenson put an end to a three-game skid for the Golden Wolves. 

Alvernia averages 78.7 points per game and allows 76.8 points per game. Nigel Cooke and Robert Mullan are leading the Golden Wolves with an average of 14.4 points per game each.  Jakob Kelly is right behind them with an average of 13.8 points per game. Kelly also averages 6.6 rebounds per game. Kyle Gordon is Alvernia's leading rebounder with 7.5 boards and leads the MAC Commonwealth with 66 blocked shots.   

After losing to York, 84-64, back on January 24th, Widener ran through the remainder of MAC Commonwealth play and is entering Wednesday on a seven-game winning streak - with all wins coming by 16 or more points. The Pride are also a perfect 12-0 at home. Widener is the top producing offense in the conference and averages 84.3 point per game while holding opponents to 69.4 points per game. The Pride have a +14.9 scoring margin on the season. Widener is led by Dominic Dunn, who averages 14.3 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game. Kevin Schenk averages 11.3 points per game and 53 rebounds per game. 

Wednesday's game will be a rematch of the 2023 MAC Commonwealth championship. Alvernia led last year's championship early, but slowly saw that lead dwindle away. Widener led by two possessions for much of the second half. Alvernia cut it to within one possession late, but Widener made critical foul shots to secure the win on Alvernia's home court. 

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.