Wheeling, W. Va. – When Wheeling University senior Men's Lacrosse players Matt Anderson and Dallin Isaacson joined the program, they were in a rebuilding phase from the ground up. Two years later, the two have become a signature part of the team's overall improvement and they were honored on senior night. The Cardinals gave them a present of their own as they took down Alderson Broaddus in their season finale 15-3.

Early on, Wheeling was controlling possession but just was unable to find the net through the first eight minutes of play. During that time, the Cardinals got off three shots compared to two for t Battlers as both teams were trying to gain advantage. Senior Dallin Isaacson made his first start of the season in net and did his part by keeping the Battlers our of the back of the net. His offense would reward him late in the first quarter when Brenner Chase got his stick on the ball after an Alderson Broaddus turnover. He found the net for the team's first goal of the day and gave them a 1-0 lead. That would be the only first quarter goal from either team, and the Cardinals went into the second quarter leading 1-0.

The Cardinals continued their strong defensive effort into the second quarter as Matt Anderson and company continued to keep the Battlers off the board. The Cardinals offense kept it going getting off six shots over the first three minutes, but once again couldn't find the back of the net. That was until sophomore Mike Andersson got the ball and ripped his first goal of the day to make it a 2-0 Wheeling advantage.  Less than a minute later, John Zaramba won the ensuing face-off and took off towards the goal before taking a shot that was blocked. Brody Fawver was there to get the rebound and he put it in the back of the net to make it a 3-0 game. The Cardinals would hold tight to that lead until the final seconds of the quarter when Andersson got off a shot as time expired and the Cardinals went into halftime leading 4-0.

 In the third quarter, the Cardinals continued their fast offensive approach as they rattled off two more goals in the first two minutes of the quarter. The first came courtesy of Brody Fawver, who scored his second goal of the day at the 14:10 mark, and the second came from Jake Wodarek at the 13: 03 mark.  Alderson Broaddus would get their first goal of the game at the 8:51 mark to make it a 6-1 game.  As the quarter came to an end, a pair of Cardinals picked up hat tricks to give Wheeling an 8-1 lead heading into the fourth. Fawver was first, taking a pass from Brenner Chase at the four minute mark to make it 7-1.  Mike Andersson followed 23 seconds later to complete his hat trick at the 3:37 mark for the Cardinals eighth goal of the day.

In the fourth, the Cardinals began to pile it on, scoring a game high seven goals in the quarter to put a bow on the win. Four of those goals came from Andersson, who once again tied the Wheeling Men's Lacrosse single-game goal record finishing with seven. The other three goals came from Dylan Mathias, Caleb French, and Dylan Lavern. For French and Mathias, it was their first goals of the season as Wheeling closed out the 15-3 win to end the 2022 season. For the Cardinals, it was a big year as they saw a three win improvement over last year's team. With many of the core nucleus returning next season, the team will look to make that next step and contend for a spot in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) playoffs.

Andersson led the offensive attack with seven goals and seven points on the day to lead the Cardinals as he ties the program's single-game goal record. Brody Fawver was right behind him with a hat trick and five other Cardinals got involved in the offense adding goals on the day. Freshman Brenner Chase led the passing game with four assists on the day while scoring one goal and finishing second on the team with five points. Dallin Isaacson got the start in net and earned his first win of the season to wrap up the year, making five saves on eight shots on goal.

The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team now heads into the off-season looking to continue to build off of a strong season.