This is the last weekend for non-conference football as several teams take a bye before starting the conference schedule on October 2. Despite their loss to Wesley last weekend, Delaware Valley, ranked #13 nationally, remains the team to beat in the MAC. It has been a long time since FDU started a season 3-0, but they have that chance this weekend as they travel to Apprentice School in Newport News, Va. The Empire 8 has feasted on non-conference opponents by going 16-1 in the first three weeks. MAC teams hope to slow that momentum down as Ithaca visits Lycoming and Wilkes travels to Utica. Both Empire 8 opponents are 3-0 as Ithaca has outscored opponents 92-30 and Utica has prevailed with a 179-62 scoring advantage. In the only other MAC game, Catholic visits Albright. Catholic is 2-1 in 2010 (loss against McDaniel last weekend) and holds a 3-1 series advantage over the Lions. Under Coach Marzka, Albright is almost unbeatable at home; hopefully, that trend continues against their ODAC foe.

MAC field hockey rolls on with three teams (Messiah #1, LVC #5, and Eastern #9) in the top to nationally. Messiah will drop this coming week after a surprising loss to Lynchburg, a team LVC handled earlier in the season. Commonwealth field hockey is 36-14 against non-conference opponents, the MAC is 68-37 overall. At 5-1, Shenandoah is the biggest surprise in con-conference play as they enter their final season as a MAC affiliate. As all MAC schools start conference play this weekend, it will be interesting to see how the Hornets fair against an improved Albright team.

Fourteen of 16 MAC men’s soccer teams have winning records as they enter the last week of non-conference play. Three games against top tier opponents (Drew, Stevens, and Gettysburg) were postponed on Wednesday because of storms. The Commonwealth surprise is Alvernia as they have been giving up only .81 goals per game behind the goalkeeping prowess of Ben Diller who sports a .38 GAA. Although Messiah leads the conference with 2.86 goals per game, the leading scorer is David Reiser with 1.71 points per game. Derek Long (DeSales) is the top scorer in the MAC with 10 goals and a 2.5 points per game average, and his team leads the Freedom is goals per game with 2.75. Eastern has the stingiest defense allowing only .57 goals per game, while King’s goalkeeper Branden Raynor is dominating the nets with a .32 GAA.

Although there are plenty of intriguing volleyball matches this weekend, the big one is Juniata (#2 nationally) at Eastern (#6). While the Eagles are undefeated at 15-0, Juniata’s (also the Eagles) only loss was to #1 Washington University. After weekend action, teams return to conference play on Wednesday as LVC, Messiah, Wilkes, and Eastern try to extend their unbeaten record to 3-0.

Nationally #1 Messiah is the class of the MAC in women’s soccer as they had an easy time with Centennial foe Dickinson 6-0. All the Commonwealth teams have winning records against non-conference opponents as they head into the final week before MAC play. Not surprisingly, Messiah is a scoring machine with a 5 goals per game average (35 total) with Amanda Naeher leading the way with 13 goals and a 4.43 points per game average. Lycoming’s Kaitlin Horn is also producing ata 3.8 points per game clip (8 goals). Widener (32 goals, 4 per game) and Lycoming (25 goals, 4.17 per game are also displaying offensive muscle. Defensively, Messiah (.14 goals per game) and Widener (.37 goals per game) are leading the way. Albright goalie Olivia Giuliano is keeping her team in many games with 6.43 saves a game. The main reason Misericordia tops the league is because of their scoring prowess of 3.75 goals per game; Eastern hangs with them because of a stellar .6 goals per game allowed. Brady Walsh (DeSales) leads the Freedom offensively with 2.5 points per game, but Lora Fink (FDU) is close behind with 2.38. King’s goalie Danielle Johnson sees plenty of action and leads the conference with 7.62 saves per game.