Box Score Wheeling, W.Va. – No. 15 Wheeling Jesuit University (3-2) fell to Florida Tech (4-1) on a gloomy Monday in Wheeling, West Virginia. The Cardinals fought hard but could never find the lead against the Panthers en route to a 12-9 loss. Dereck Downs lead all scorers for the Cardinals with four goals and one assist.

"FIT is one of the most underrated teams in the country at the moment and we are walking away from this loss with a lot of respect for their team and their coaching staff," said Head Coach, Kevin Dugan. "They are a good team, but today's loss is a real wake-up call and gut-check for our team, and we have to extract the lessons learned to help our team get better. We had a really tough day at the face-off x and that really hurt our possession count, but we still could have won the game if we finished a few more opportunities offensively and played with more discipline at both ends of the field."

Wheeling Jesuit quickly found themselves down in the first quarter when Andrew Conley scored two unassisted goals (12:11, 10:48). Dereck Downs then answered with an unassisted goal for the Cardinals with 10:45 remaining in the first quarter. Midway through the period, Brian Bacarella was able to find the net for the Panther giving them a 3-1 lead. The Cardinals were able to finish the quarter with an unassisted goal from Bryce Brochu and an assisted goal from Dereck Downs set up by Matt Lee. Senior attackman Zach Wynne scored less than two minutes into the second quarter. Matt Lee was able to answer for the Cardinals from an assist by Duston Doudelet with 4:08 remaining in the period. However, the Panthers were able to rally off a two quick goals to end the first half from Austen Zugelter and Frank Schornagle, who was assisted by Daniel Errett (3:38, 0:04). The Cardinals trailed 6-4 at halftime. Wheeling Jesuit started the third quarter off strong with goals from Sam Horning (11:41) and Dereck Downs (5:51), McLean Fitzmartin tallying one assist in the process. The Panthers fought hard back and score three unanswered goals to the third, however, from Jason Terry (4:46), Charlie Morrisette (3:49) and Daniel Errett (2:02). Daniel Errett and Nick Wynne both picked up assists in the third quarter. Florida Tech score 19 seconds into the fourth on an assisted goal from Jason Terry to Zach Wynne. Matt Lee scored with 12:40 remaining in the game off an assist from Jared Baranowski. Dereck Downs got back in the action with an unassisted goal (6:04) bring the Cardinals within two of the Panthers. Andrew Conley scored off of a pass from Nick Wynne with 4:53 left on the clock. Dereck Downs then fed Bryce Brochu for a man-up goal to make the game 9-11. Florida Tech's Nick Wynne closes the game with unassisted goal with 0:01 left to seal the deal for the Panthers.

The Cardinals plan to travel to Victory Field in Lafayette Hill, PA March 15th to take on non-conference opponent, Chestnut Hill College.