Wheeling, W. Va. - On Monday, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) released their weekly awards across their spring sports. The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team was featured in this week's award winners as senior defender Matt Anderson was named the GMAC Defender of the Week. He had shining moments on both sides of the ball during the team's 16-6 win over Davis & Elkins and earned his first conference weekly honor of the season.
Anderson provided lockdown defense throughout the day as he went against the Senators top scorer of the season. He shut him down throughout the first half and allowed him to score just three goals in the 40 minutes of play. Anderson also led the group with eight ground balls on the day while causing one turnover. Anderson has been one of the most consistent defenders for the Cardinals this season, but he also provided one of the biggest highlights of the year on the offensive side in the waning moments of the first half.
Davis & Elkins was attempting a clear when Travis Scala turned the ball over with seven seconds left on the clock. Matt Anderson picked up the ground ball in his own defensive zone and sprinted towards the midfield line. He got there with :02 left on the clock and ripped off a shot from the 47-yard line. It bounced past the Senators defense and found the back of the net as time expired to give Wheeling an 8-0 lead heading into the third quarter. That goal gave Wheeling the momentum they needed to hold on and secure their highest goal total since March 31st, 2019, when they scored 17 goals against Dominican (NY.) in a 17-16 win.
The Wheeling Men's Lacrosse team has already won two more games than they did last season and are still very much alive in the GMAC Playoff race. With games remaining against Walsh and Alderson Broaddus to end the season, Wheeling needs to win their final two games, including a big one against Walsh this coming Saturday. A win in that game would give Wheeling the upper hand on the number four seed heading into the final week of the season as it would tie the two teams at 2-3 in GMAC play heading into the final games of the year.
Matt Anderson is the 30th Wheeling University student-athlete to be named Athlete of the Week this season and is the third member of the Wheeling Men's Lacrosse to earn GMAC Player of the Week Award honors. Last week, the Cardinals had two honorees in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) with Women's Track & Field athlete Keala McCurry and Women's Golfer Emily Holzopfel earning honors in their sports. The Spring sports are coming down to their final weeks of the season, and all the Cardinals teams are fighting for their spot in the playoffs.
The Wheeling Men's Lacrosse team is back in action this weekend when they hit the road to face Walsh with the opening faceoff scheduled for 1 PM.
