Fairmont, W. Va. - After coming home for their Homecoming game last week, the Wheeling University Women's Soccer team (4-8-1, 4-6-2) hits the road for a pair of conference games this week. They started out in Fairmont State Wednesday night where they fell to the Falcons 4-0. It was a three goal first half attack that downed the Cardinals as they fell to 4-6-2 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play.

It did not take long for the Falcons offense to get going as the Cardinals were behind before two minutes had past. They scored their first goal at the 1:39 mark and added another goal 5 minutes later to put wheeling down 2-0 early on. Caryn Goins and Mary DiFonzo would each get off a shot before the 10 minute mark but both were denied thanks to saves by the Falcon goalkeeper. Another Fairmont State goal in the 13th minute put the Cardinals down 3-0 as they looked to fight back in the game. Overall, the Cardinals were outshot 9-5 over the first 45 minutes of play but only put two of those five shots on net. The Cardinals went into halftime trailing by that same 3-0 score as they looked to get the offense going in the second half.

However, in that second half, the Cardinals were unable to create a lot of offensive opportunities. They were outshot 11-2 over the game's final 45 minutes as the defense tried to hold strong. After getting her first career start in net, freshman Sam Faulkner came out in the second half in favor of Mikayla Yarwood. The two had been switching out throughout the season, but flipped flopped from their normal roles. Yarwood was strong in net, facing six shots on net and making five saves in the half. DeFonzo and teammate Talynn DeBartolo were responsible for the two Cardinal shots in the second half but again neither could find the back of the net. The Falcons would add one more goal and went on to win by the final score of 4-0.

Mary DiFonzo continued her strong offensive season in 2022, leading the way with three shots putting two of those on goal. The Cardinals also receive shots by Kenadee Burgoyne, Taylor Wells, Caryn Goins, and Talynn DeBartolo to round out the offense. Sam Faulkner got her first career start in net and made two saves on five shots faced. Mikayla Yarwood finished the game and made five saves on six shots faced.

The Wheeling University Women's Soccer team returns to action on Sunday, October 16th, when they hit the road to face Glenville State at 2 p.m.