Reading, Pa. (August 24, 2026) - For the last 27 years, Alvernia field hockey has been led by one coach, one message, one culture. With the addition of Cody Savitsky, the Golden Wolves will not look to reinvent the wheel, but build off of the foundation of consistency and success paved by former student-athletes and coaches.
"My biggest thing is building relationships with each individual player," said Savitsky. "I told the team that I am not trying to completely start anew, we are going to build off of what they've always had." While it is a new chapter in Golden Wolves field hockey, the story remains the same.
Brief Recap of Previous Year:
The Golden Wolves ended their 2025 campaign with a final record of 8-11 (3-4 MAC). While they found themselves under .500, four of their 11 losses came in overtime. Overtime losses that came courtesy of .500 or above teams such as Gettysburg, Kean, nationally ranked York, and Widener. The Golden Wolves also conceded a close 2-0 loss to nationally ranked Franklin & Marshall. While 8-11 appears in the record books, a sub .500 season does not tell the story of this Golden Wolves team in 2025. The good news for Savitsky, the Golden Wolves return nearly every student-athlete from the 2025 squad.
Offensive Breakdown:
"Since a lot of the offense are returners I expect them to be playing with some confidence…I expect to lean on them a lot to challenge each other and help their teammates learn and grow," says Savitsky.
All five of the Golden Wolves leading scorers from the 2025 season return to the roster in 2026. Amongst those returners is MAC Player of the Year, Ava Michael, who led the team in goals and assists, while also netting five game winners for the Golden Wolves in the previous season. As a junior, Michael recorded 41 points on 18 goals and 5 assists and led the MAC Commonwealth in goals, averaging nearly one per game, and also led the Commonwealth in points. As a rising senior and captain for this Golden Wolves squad, Michael looks to hit the ground running with not only hopes of yet another standout season, but also as a leader.
The Golden Wolves' second leading scorer, Caroline Martin, also returns as a four year starter and captain of the team. Martin's presence on the front line for the Golden Wolves creates a difficult dynamic to defend. Martin's 2025 campaign included 11 goals and three assists that resulted in 25 points. Martin was one of nine scorers in the MAC Commonwealth to achieve double-digit goals scored in the 2025 season, one of the others being Michael.
"As leaders, I expect them to not only lead by example, but also vocally on the field," added Savitsky in reference to Michael and Martin.
Also returning for the Golden Wolves is All-MAC Commonwealth Second Team midfielder Kelsy McClintock. McClintock, a junior, finished last season as the third leading scorer for the Golden Wolves coming in just behind Martin with 21 points on eight goals and five assists. As a sophomore, McClintock built off a solid first year and increased her offensive production in year two. Back now, for her third year in the starting lineup, expect McClintock to join Michael and Martin to create a three-headed nightmare for opposing defenses to scheme against.
Defensive Breakdown:
As a defensive player herself, Coach Savitsky takes pride in this side of the ball, "I love when all players have the ability to individually defend." said Savitsky. "I also love when all defenders have a wide variety of distribution skills and can contribute to anything from a small play of longer balls over a defense."
The Golden Wolves defense was strong last year, anchored by All-MAC defender Sarah Schaffer and sole defensive captain Sofia Mollura. Both players helped lead Alvernia's defense to a 1.79 opponent goals against average and a .140 opponent shot percentage. Alvernia's defense finished fourth in the MAC Commonwealth with a 1.79 goals against average and Alvernia was also fourth in the conference in total goals allowed at 34. Schaffer, a junior, logged nearly 1,200 minutes played while starting in all 19 of the games for the Golden Wolves in her sophomore year and recorded two defensive saves en route to her breakout All-MAC Commonwealth season. Mollura, who is the two year captain alongside Ava Michael and Caroline Martin, comes into her junior year having logged four defensive saves and started in all 19 games of the 2025 campaign.
Key Matchups:
September 1st @ Gettysburg College:
In the opening game of the year, Alvernia travels to Gettysburg looking to avenge its 3-2 overtime loss in its season opener last year. The Golden Wolves held a 1-0 lead going into half time, but conceded two third quarter goals to lose the lead. Alvernia forced overtime with less than five minutes to play in the fourth quarter but dropped the decision when they allowed a goal just four minutes into the overtime period. Look for the Golden Wolves to be hungry to make a statement in their season opener against the Bullets in a match up that is historically known to produce a close game thriller.
September 16th vs Franklin & Marshall College:
The Golden Wolves welcome F&M, who ended the season ranked 19th in the national poll last year, for a rematch in what was a 2-0 loss for the Golden Wolves. In Franklin & Marshall's 19 games played last season, they were only held to two goals or less seven times, the Golden Wolves being one of those teams to do it. Alvernia will have a great measuring stick game come mid-September to see how they rank against one of the nations top teams.
September 26th @ Kean University:
The Golden Wolves will travel to Union, NJ looking to redeem what was a heartbreaking loss towards the middle of their season last year against Kean. Similarly to its OT loss against Gettysburg, Alvernia scored with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to force overtime at 1-1. Kean responded within the first minute of the overtime period and took the win on the Golden Wolves' home turf, 2-1.
October 21st vs York College:
The historically ranked Spartans will come to town in the midst of MAC Commonwealth play for the Golden Wolves as they look to get back in the win column against the Spartans after York narrowly escaped last year. Similarly to the previous overtime games the Golden Wolves had played up until this point, York held the lead heading to the fourth quarter. Very quickly into the fourth quarter the Golden Wolves netted the goal that would force overtime, but the Golden Wolves would eventually fall to the Spartans, 2-1, who ended the 2025 campaign ranked just outside the Top 25 at 26.
October 24th vs Neumann:
Alvernia welcomes a new MAC Commonwealth foe, Neumann University, to Reading in what will be the first competition against one another as conference rivals. The last matchup between the two teams was on September 20, 2008, when Alvernia netted three second half goals en route to a 5-0 victory over the Knights. Nearly 20 years later, Neumann and Alvernia are competing again for a conference title, the first since both teams were members of the PAC.
October 31st vs Widener:
In their final game of the year, the Golden Wolves welcome the Widener Pride to town to get even against a team that beat the Golden Wolves, 3-2, in double overtime a year ago. Despite Ava Michael's two goal performance, the Golden Wolves were unable to hold off the Pride's offensive attack, and conceded their highest goal total all season in the 3-2 loss.
The Golden Wolves open their season on the road at Gettysburg on Tuesday, September 1 at 7:00 PM and at Susquehanna on September 5th at 3:00 PM. Alvernia's home opener will come against Wilkes on Wednesday, September 9th at 7:00 PM at Alvernia's Turf Field.
