Erie, PA. – On Saturday, the Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team (2-6, 0-2) returned to Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) play against the #4 team in the country in Mercyhurst. The Cardinals' offense kept their success going, scoring eight goals in the game, but it wasn't enough as they fell to the Lakers 20-8. The Cardinals scored six more goals than they did in their game last year against Mercyhurst as they continue to show growth on the field.

After the opening face-off, it took the Lakers just 38 seconds to score as they took a 1-0 lead with 14:22 to play in the first quarter. On their second possession of the game, Mercyhurst added another goal and led 2-0 before two minutes ticked off the clock. Throughout the first quarter, it looked as though the Lakers were going to run away with the game as they scored nine goals over the first 15 minutes of the game and put Wheeling in a hole. Freshman Joshua Wolford got his seventh start of the season in net and faced 15 shots over the first 15 minutes. He made six saves in that first quarter, but it wasn't enough as Mercyhurst led 9-0.

As the game moved into the second quarter, the Lakers continued to add on to their lead as they attacked on offense. They added two more goals in the first five minutes of the quarter and extended their lead to 12-0 with 10:44 to play. Senior Matt Anderson would take charge on the next face-off, getting a win for Wheeling and putting them back on offense and they took advantage. After a missed shot by Brody Fawver and Brenner Chase, the Cardinals would get on the board when Dakota Strong made the shot and put Wheeling on the board making it an 11-1 game. The Lakers added two more goals before halftime and had a 13-1 lead heading into halftime. However, as the second half began, Wheeling got going, outscoring the #4 team in the country 8-7 as they fought back.

Mercyhurst began the second half with another goal to make it a 14-1 game before the Cardinals got going. It would be Mike Andersson that began the second-half scoring, coming off a game where he tied the school record with seven goals. He found the net at the 11-minute mark of the quarter to make it a 14-2 game. Two more goals from Mercyhurst made it a 16-2 game before Anderson stepped up and got his team back on the board. The senior got a pass from Caleb French and came charging down the field to notch his first goal of the night to make it 16-3. Sophomore Jake Wodarek scored the final goal of the third quarter, his first of the day and Wheelin entered the final quarter of play trailing 17-4.

Over the final 15 minutes of play, the Lakers scored three more goals and got to the 20 goal mark with 8:04 to play. However, that didn't discourage Wheeling as their offense continued to go to work. Fawver got on the board with his first goal of the day off of a pass from Wodarek that made it an 18-5 game. After Mercyhurst scored their 20th goal, Anderson was back on the board with his second goal of the game with seven minutes to go. Mike Andersson followed suit with his second goal of the day four minutes later to make it a 20-7 game. Andersson completed the hat trick in the final minute of the game, bringing his season total to 20, and bringing the final score to 20-8.

Andersson picked up his third hat trick of the season as he led the offense with three goals in the game, marking his fifth multi-goal effort of the season. He brought his season total up to 20 goals and is near the top of the GMAC in scoring this season. The other multi-goal effort from the Cardinals came from senior Matt Anderson, who scored two goals securing his first multi-goal performance of the season. Wheeling also got goals from Brody Fawver, Jake Wodarek, and Dakota Strong to round out the offense. Wolford finished the day with 20 goals allowed and made 10 saves over his 60 minutes in net. They now fall to 0-2 in conference play but have scored eight or more goals in each of their last three games.

The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team returns to action on Friday, March 25th, when they hit the road to face D'Youville at 7 PM.