Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team (0-8-1, 0-6-1) opened up October on Sunday with the first of five home games during the month when they hosted Davis & Elkins. After falling behind early, the Cardinals tried to battle back, but it wasn't enough as they fell to the Senators 3-1. Freshman Julio D'Lima scored the first goal of his collegiate career in the loss as the Cardinals continue to make more offensive chances each time they hit the course.

The Cardinals offense got started early, taking the first two shots in the game's 4th and 5th minute. Jon-Michael Gordon and Cole Congson took the two shots, but both missed goal. Austin Aaron got the start in goal and made a save on his first shot faced in the 14th minute, however, in the 24th minute the Senators would be the first on the board as Johan Magana scored to make it a 1-0 Davis & Elkins lead. The Cardinals would get off the next two shots, with Sam Clark putting their first shot on goal, but it was saved by Davis & Elkins's Grant Wyles to keep it a 1-0 Senator lead. Davis & Elkins would add three more goals before the half was out and entered halftime with a 3-0 lead. Wheeling was outshot 8-6 in the half and looked to create some offense in the second half.

They would do just that in the second half, flipping the script to outshoot the Senators 9-6. In the 49th minute, Julio D'Lima got the first shot off, but ended up missing the net wide. He would get a second chance in the 60th minute and this time he didn't miss. He brought the ball up the field and took his shot, finding the bottom right corner of the net It was the first goal of D'Lima's career as he got the Cardinals back on the board. Wheeling kept the pressure on, taking four consecutive shots, but none of them landed on net as it remained a 3-1 Davis & Elkins advantage. Aaron faced just one shot in the second half and did his job making the save to keep it a 3-1 game. In the 89th minute, the Cardinals had one more shot courtesy of TJ Cherry, but it went wide right ending the game with Davis & Elkins picking up a 3-1 win.

The Cardinals were led by Julio D'Lima, who finished with two shots, one on goal, while scoring the line goal in the loss. It was the first goal of D'Lima's collegiate career as he looks to continue that success throughout the season. TJ Cherry was the other Cardinal to finish with two shots, one on goal, while Johannes Haugerud added two shots of his own. Rocco LiTrenta took a team high three shots, putting nine on goal, while Jon-Michael Gordon, Cole Congson, Richard Afolayanka, Sam Clark, Florian Regent, and Sam Clark each took shots. Austin Aaron got the start in net for the Cardinals and made three saves on six shots faced throughout the day. 

The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team returns to action on Wednesday, October 4th, when they hit the road to face Concord at 4 PM