Wheeling, W. Va. – It was a rainy and windy afternoon in Wheeling, West Virginia as the Wheeling Men's Lacrosse team (2-8, 0-3) hosted Lake Erie on Saturday. The Cardinals got out to a hot start early on, but in the end it wasn't enough as they fell 11-6. The loss moves them to 0-3 so far in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) play as they fight through the later half of their season.

As the opening faceoff got underway, it was all Wheeling in the early going. After the Storm won the opening face-off, Wheeling would force a turnover and rattled off four shots in the first four minutes of play. All those shots would eventually pay off as Mike Andersson took a pass from Brody Fawver that found the net and gave Wheeling a 1-0 lead at the 11:26 mark of the first quarter.  Lake Erie responded a few minutes later, and it was back to the drawing board with the game tied at 1-1.  Things would go quiet for the next five minutes before Lake Erie got their first lead with three minutes to play in the quarter. The Cardinals looked to respond and did just that with 10 seconds to go in the first courtesy of Jacob Knippel. That made the score 2-2 as the deadlock continued into the second.

That second quarter would be the highest scoring quarter of the game, and it took just two minutes for Lake Erie to retake the lead at 3-2. At the 12:12 mark, they scored again and suddenly a tie game was a Wheeling two-goal deficit. As the clock was approaching the 10 minute mark, Wheeling would get back on the board and controlled the ball in their offensive zone. They would turn to their leader Mike Andersson, who was fed the ball by Brenner Chase, and he responded. He notched his second goal of the day and Wheeling cut the deficit to a 4-3 game. However, the storm would not let up, scoring four more goals over the next eight minutes and extended their lead to 7-3. Andersson would score his fourth hat trick in his last five games with his third goal of the day at the 1:55 mark to cut it to 7-4, but another Lake Erie goal in the waning seconds took the teams to halftime with the score sitting at 8-4.

As the team's moved to the second half, Wheeling showed their ability to make adjustments and played lockdown defense. They did not allow a shot by Lake Erie over the first seven minutes of the quarter and kept the ball in their offensive zone. They took advantage, shooting 10 times over those seven minutes, but they found that their shots weren't finding their way through. That is until the 4:51 mark when Jake Wodarek brought the ball up the field. He found freshman Brenner Chase, who took the ball to the net and got Wheeling back on the board making it an 8-5 game. The score would stay right there as time expired and the Cardinals found themselves within striking distance heading to the final 15 minutes of play.

However, the Storm weren't about to make it an easy task, and came on strong with two goals over the first five minutes of the fourth to make it a 10-5 game.  The two teams battled back and forth until the 2:53 mark before the Cardinals broke through again. The offense got the ball to Mitch Park, who scored his first goal of the year to turn it into a 10-6 ballgame. However, Lake Erie would respond with the goal that sealed the deal with 1:46 to play that brought the game to it's final score of 11-6. With the loss, Wheeling kow falls to 0-3 over their first three GMAC games. They now look ahead to their final three games of the season as they fight for their playoff lives.

Mike Andersson led the way for the Cardinals once again with his fourth hat trick in his last five games. He led the team with 10 shots on the day and was efficient putting seven of those shots on net for the Cardinals. The other three Cardinal goals came courtesy of Jacob Knippel, Mitchell Park, and Brenner Chase. In net, Joshua Wolford got the start again and made 10 saves on 21 shots faced in the loss. Even though it goes as a loss on the scoreboard, it was a big day for Wheeling as they continue to show improvement. Last season, they fell 21-3 to the Storm and bounced back nicely this season scoring six goals. They look for continued growth as the season heads into it's final three weeks.

The Wheeling Men's Lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday, April 16th, when they host Davis & Elkins at 1 PM.