South Euclid, OH. - Over their first four games of the season, the Wheeling Women's Soccer team (1-4, 1-2) has battled and been right there until the end of the game. On Wednesday night, their hard work paid off as a second half spark led them to their first win of the season over Notre Dame College 3-2. The Cardinals were down 2-1 at halftime, but a pair of second half goals by Kenadee Burgoyne and Talynn DeBartolo led the team to victory.
Coming out of the locker room, the Cardinals trailed 2-1, but had momentum on they scored the final goal of the first half. They were looking for a quick strike opportunity and got it in the 46th minute of the game. Notre Dame got the opening kick-off in the second half, but a pair of fouls got the ball back in Wheeling's possession. The Cardinals would take advantage as Landree Wilkin brought the ball up field and connected with Burgoyne. She would send the ball into the upper right-hand corner of the net and the game was tied at 2-2. The Cardinals have fought back from their early 2-0 deficit, but the job wasn't done as they searched for their first win.
Over the next ten minutes, the tide turned as Notre Dame got possession and started firing shots towards the net. Mikayla Yarwood was solid as she has been all season long, making three saves over those 10 minutes to keep the game tied. The Falcon's goalkeeper was just as stingy, making two saves as the Falcons tried to draw up a goal-scoring play. In the 68th minute, Phepa Seopa controlled the ball in the offensive zone and found an open Talynn DeBartolo. DeBartolo capitalized with her second goal of the year and Wheeling would go ahead 3-2 in the game with 22 minutes to go. There would be just three more Cardinals shots taken the rest of the game and Wheeling held on for the 3-2 win.
For DeBartolo, it is the second straight season where she has notched the game-winning goal against Notre Dame College as the Cardinals picked up their second ever win against the team. DeBartolo finished the night with three shots, two on goal, and her first game winning goal of the season. Kenadee Burgoyne was the offensive leader, putting four of her five shots on net and picked up her first multi-goal effort of the season. Mikayla Yarwood got the start in net and finished with eight saves on 10 shots faced and is now 15 saves away from the Wheeling University career saves record.
While the spark came in the second half, the first half saw the two teams battle it out with the Falcons taking the early advantage. They scored the game's first goal in just the fourth minute of the game and followed it up with goal number two in the 22nd minute to go ahead 2-0. Things could have gotten out of hand there, but Burgoyne provided a quick answer off the kick-off to get the Cardinals on the board. She kicked the ball back to Medina Doka, who sent it right back to her and she had an open shot on net. She took it and scored her first goal to make it a 2-1 game at the time. The Cardinals would go on to score three unanswered goals in the end and now sit at 1-2 in conference play with momentum as they come back home Sunday.
The Wheeling University Women's Soccer team returns to action on Sunday, September 18th, when they host Alderson Broaddus with kick-off scheduled for 2 PM.
